Pretty Little Psycho
by Xenolord
Summary: Scum. Refuse. Garbage of Society. Slaver. Call me whatever you want, honey... regardless of how you put it... I'm the only one who can save this pitiful galaxy... Catelogues the adventure of Slaver Lysylla Schatternae as she struggles to save the Galaxy from the Ruin... while pretending she wants nothing to do with it. Rated M for heavy adult themes, incl. slavery, torture, rape.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own Starbound, or any of the content of the mods used with this story.

Author's Note: **I would like to go on record once more and warn the viewing audience that this story contains graphic material and very adult themes, including slavery, torture both physical and psychological; as well as touching on some rather delicate subject matters such as rape, domestic violence and Stockholme Syndrome. Please note that these subjects are covered only for the sake of the story, and the opinions of the characters within do not reflect my own opinions on the matter. The following story is a work of fiction.**

Pretty Little Psycho

Prologue

I crossed my arms and tapped my upper arm as I waited. That was really the worst part of this job, actually... the wait. If I wasn't waiting on those lazy-ass Hylotl workers on the dock to load my damn cargo, I was waiting for this fat-fucking Avian to count out my coin. He worked slowly intentionally, I just know it... he loved to watch me writhe, and was going to take his sweet time to get me out and on to my next destination. I bored holes into the back of his head as he hummed that same damn earworm of a tune he always did when he counted out pixels. I think he can't keep track of what number he's on unless he's humming.

"Any day now." I grumbled at him.

"Relax, Lysylla. The world's not going to end, you know..." He turned around and handed me my card back. "Here you go. One Pixel Chit, another hundred thousand heavy." I motioned to take the card before he mentioned how much he credited my account.

"Wha – a hundred k? The contract was for two. What fuckin' gives?"

"Aye, it was. But your contract isn't over."

"D'fuck do you mean it's not over. I have a strict A-to-B policy, and I don't divert." He opened his tree-trunk arms in that carefree expression he always did when he was trying to screw me out of a payday.

"Lys... come on, it's me we're talking about here. I wouldn't have asked you to do it if I wasn't damned sure you'd see it through. B'sides, if you manage to get our guests to their destination within the hour, I can promise you my client will be more then happy to shell out an additional three to four hundred thousand – cash-on-delivery, mind – for your hard, earnest work." I blinked at him. _God I hate this fucker_. He talks in circles – more so then most Avian – and is just a general pain in my tail. I snatch my Pixel Chit from him and look it over.

"...where are they going?"

"That'a girl!" He smiled, turning back away from me. "You'll want to deliver them to the Protectorate Headquarters, D-Dock. A contact will be there to help you offload our guests to their... refrigerators."

"Refrigerators? Who's the client?"

"Grand Protector Greenfrond." I shivered. I'd met Grand Protector Greenfrond only once... and that once was fuckin' enough. Floran creep me out... Greenfrond is a whole new category of creepazoid I don't want anything to deal with. The whole time we spoke, he kept eyeing me like a piece of meat.

"Lemme guess... Greenfrond is fond of the... kind of game that can fight back." The Avian broker laughed and nodded.

"Got it in one, girl. But don't go blabbin' that to everyone, kay? The Grand Protector likes to keep his culinary preferences secret. You know how the Terrane Protectorate frown upon the Floran's cannibalistic tendencies." Can it even be considered cannibalism at this point? I mean, Floran don't usually eat other Floran... I say usually because a starved Floran is a dangerous, unpredictable creature.

"Eh... at least this is the least convoluted curveball you've thrown me... I'll talk to my guy in the TP. He can get me in without the usual full cargo scan."

"Wouldn't count too much on it, Lys. Most Protectors – guards or otherwise – are on full parade mode for the Graduation Ceremony."

"Dammit, that's today!?" I blurted out. "Fuck me sideways!" It was now going to be nearly impossible to get them inside without a _heavy_ bribe on my part. I was going to have to turn on the ol' Lysylla Charm... and I hated doing that. "Fuggin'... my day today, ain't it."

"Yep." He turned curtly and waved his stubby little donut-grabbers good-bye. "Ta, Lys. See you when you get back." I grumbled some kind of confirmation before shoving the ramshackle wooden door open and stepping out into the street. I took a deep breath in of the dirty, contaminated air as I walked back to my ship. This is the real Earth... the dirty reality the Terrane Protectorate hides beneath it's convenient little glittering lie up top. The shanties are stacked so close together, it's almost impossible for me to walk without bashing my shoulder against a two-by-four, causing me to shift endlessly as I move. The dirty air plays greedily with my gentle, medium length pink hair... christ wind... you wouldn't think the wind would be as strong as it is, what being forced into cramped corridors that it is... but I suppose that only serves to make it even stronger.

My choice of attire attracts more then one look as I break into the mainstreet from the alleyway I was in. I'm dressed – in a word – scantly; a black corset hugging the few curves I do have, mixed with the pair of elbow length gloves – I assure you not necessary in my profession, but still fun – which adorn my arms and the black fishnet stockings attached to the joint underwear/garterbelt which hugs my waist. Am I dressed in any shade of practicality? No. Do I look like something out of some fat otaku's wet dream diary? Fuck yes. _But I don't care_. In my line of work, I deal with one... _maybe_ two people a day that aren't chained up aboard my ship, a gag in their mouthes and a heavy leather blindfold over their eyes. I promise that sounds a thousand times more interesting then it is.

See... I'm a slaver. And I'm not talking about the cutsie-tootsie 'indentured servitude' kinds that I know Avian and Hylotl governments still employ. I make no illusions about what I do. I'm the 'club you over the head and drag you aboard a ship in chains' kind of slaver... but then again, I'm just the transport girl. I don't do the clubbing, or dragging... I just do the moving.

I shove past a pair of vagrants begging me for loose pixels... shove off, guttersnipes, I'm a busy woman. My ship is still parked in the three hour or less parking spot I squeezed her into, the hatch open, but not dropped to allow every Tom, Dick and Harry aboard my ship. I advance upon the ship and hollar inside. "Ai! Open up!" I call to my ship's AI – ironically named Ai – who confirms by opening the ship's hatch for me. Ai is a boot-legged SAIL unit I purchased from my Protectorate inside-man about three years back after some heavy bribing and promising six ways to sunday that I wasn't going to be getting caught with it.

"Welcome back, Lysylla." Ai chirps to me. Ai's the only real conversation I get... and the most important woman in my life. I smile back to her little digitized picture on the wall – smiling... something I don't do a lot of – and take my seat in the cockpit of the ship. "Is everything in order? Our guests are still secured in the Guest Bedroom." 'Guest Bedroom' is a cute, cheeky little name I gave the cargo hold... which got it's name after Ai almost gave me away by telling me the status of the slaves in the cargo hold. I had her begin to refer to any non-crew member of the ship as 'guests' and the cargo hold as the 'Guest Bedroom'. Wasn't making that mistake twice.

"Yeah, I know..." I mused, checking all the levels in my ship. "Seems there's a Part Two to this whole thing... fuckin' wooooo." I balled my hands into fists and gave a sarcastic cheer, waving hands in front of my face. "See if you can't jack into the Protectorate network and tell me which checkpoint has the newest guard... and failing that, see which one I haven't already seduced my way past." A chirp as Ai confirmed.

"And failing _that_ , Lysylla?" I rolled my eyes.

"Surprise me." Ai could be cheeky sometimes... which made her just as loveable as it was intolerable. Regardless of the flaws, I loved all the things she helped me with.

"Confirmed. Stand by." A dull _whumph_ echoed in the ship.

"D'fuck was that?" I asked, looking around.

"Siesmic activity. The plates have been quite active of late. I have detected no fewer then three seismic tremors in the past three hours."

"Shit..." Pushing the seismic activity out of my mind, I went back to the problem at hand. "Ai, begin pre-flight check. We're going to have to sneak past the checkpoint to deliver our guests to Grand Protector Greenfrond." A beep in confirmation. "How's their vitals?"

"Within nominal levels. Elevated heartrate in most – however, one seems to have fallen into a zen-like medatative state." That was good. She was going to chew through less food then the others. I wasn't planning on them staying long, but I still have to feed my guests. People don't buy slave _corpses_... well... Greenfrond might, if they're fresh...

 _Whuuuumph..._

The rumbling caused me to look up again. "Jesus, what's with all the tremors... I _felt_ that one." Ai went quiet. "Ai?"

"One moment, Lysylla... I am checking the validity of a hunch." _Uh oh._ They warned me about this when I got her... when an AI has a 'hunch' it usually means they've been dedicating processing power to checking the surroundings... which usually meant they were looking for something.

"What's on your mind, Ai? Talk to me."

"Seismic activity has been increasing in the past twenty years – that much is public knowledge. Most believe it is the continental plates buckling under the weight of the Great City, however others believe a far more disturbing theory. Are you familiar with the Universal Creation Theory?"

"That's the... shit they taught me in school about the... Cultivator and the... fuggin'... Ruin, right?"

"Confirmed. Many who believe this theory state that the Cultivator was unable to destroy the Ruin, simply sealing it away. Some doomsday cultists believe that the Ruin shall return one day to finish what it started."

"Okay, I don't get it... why does the fuggin' Ruin have to do with earthquakes?"

"The Ruin is a planet-destroyer." I scrunched my nose up at the thought, going back to the console. Fuel, good... coolant, good... waste disposal functioning, good... Giant purple tentacle, check... Wait...

I looked up from my console to look at something that caught my eye. As though it had eyes I couldn't see, a giant, puple-hued tentacle was waving back and forth in front of my ship, almost staring at me. "Uuuuuuhhhhh... Ai?" I couldn't take my eyes off it. "What the _fuck_ is that!?" Just as these words left my mouth, I felt the whole ship lurch. "Fuggin' hell! What hit us?"

"Nothing, Lysylla. The ship did not move... the _planet_ did."

"Get us out of here." I tried to keep my composure.

"Lysylla, if I begin launch proceedures now, we may not be able to clear before we are consumed."

"Then skip the pre-flight check then..." I muttered back, trying to remain calm.

"It is ill-advised to skip pre-flight check, captain." Suddenly, a much larger tentacle – easily the size of a skyscraper plus – erupted from the ground, sending concrete chunks in all directions. "Ah." Ai mused gently. "Beginning liftoff proceedure. Skipping pre-flight check." I knew something like that would motivate the stubborn AI. My fingers flew across the control panel, trying to take some of the slack off of Ai to boot up what systems I could. A few systems – namely the FTL drive – had to be spooled up manually, while most others were slaved into Ai to activate. Once everything I could turn on was on and booting, I began to pilot the ship off the ground.

"Lysylla, the FTL drive is reporting a maintenace issue."

"Yeah well... it can go suck a chode, can't it?" I responded. "I'm not going to risk getting dismembered if I can avoid it, just because my FTL drive likes being a dick." Besides, with all due luck, we won't need our FTL drive immediately. We could stop off on the moon for some maintenance and...

…

I wonder what's going to happen to the moon if the Earth is destroyed...?

Aaaaaaaaah not the time, not the bloody time! The buildings disappeared below my vision as I caught a gimpse of how bad it really was. Huge tentacles were sprouting out of the ground, some smaller ones swatting ships out of the sky like flies. I watched the Terrane Protectorate's pride and joy – an absolutely _hulking_ ship called the _Amarthine Sky_ get crushed in two by one such tentacle. "Shiiiiiiit we need to go. I just watched one of those things crack the _Amarthine Sky_ open like a god-damn peanut!"

"Lysylla, we should attempt to secure survivors before fleeing. There could be people who survived."

"We _are_ securing survivors, Ai! There's you... and me... and everyone in the hold, look, survivors!" I answered sarcastically as the engines flared to carry us into orbit. "Mission done, people survived, let's go." I knew it wasn't what she meant, but I've never stuck my neck out for other people in the past... I wasn't about to start now... especially since it could _literally_ get me killed. For the first time in my life... I wanted to be as far away from Earth as I could.

My ship's engines flared and we began to race for the stars, the blue of the sky slowly starting to fade to black. Mere miles from the atmosphere – from safety – the entire ship lurched, the hull buckled and an alarm blared in the cabin. "Phhhhhuuuuuuck what was _tha-at!?_ " I whined. We were so damned close.

"Extreme pressure near the ship's midsection... external cameras confirm a tentacle has grappled us."

"Shit, it's going to split us in two!"

"Unlikely. The tentacle is of the smaller variety."

"Small or no, it can – and will – destroy us." I instantly throttled all the way to full, the ship lurching once more as we tried to break free. "Come on... Come _on..._ " I pleaded with the ship to break free... to just... snap the tentacle off at it's base and let us carry off into space safely. After pulling twice, I heard the engines spool down, a 'Overheat' warning flashing on my console. No. No, I was not dying today. Not like this, anyway. There was only one – admittedly extremely stupid – thing left to do.

I redirected all engine power to the FTL drive, and disabled the fuel limiter. "Lysylla... what are you doing?"

"Trying to get us the hell out of here." I answered as I began to activate the – remember _broken_ – FTL drive.

"The ship's FTL drive is-"

" _I know, Ai!_ " I finally lost my shit and barked back. "I fucking _know_ it's in need of maintenance, if we get out of this and it _breaks_ , I give you full permission to bitch at me until doomsday! But until that time! - I need it _now_ to get us the _hell out of Dodge!_ " She went quiet for a moment.

"Confirmed." FTL fuel limits were usually put into place, because FTL jumps were still a sort of imprecise science, so putting too much Erchius into the engines could send you like... into next year... but they'd get you out of a pickle. I heard the tell-tale sound of the FTL spooling up – making a hell of a racket of it – before the engines fired. The ship lurched again, the tentacle doing a damn good job of hanging on.

"Darlin' come on... I just need a good pull! Give momma a good pull!" One more pull and the sound of bending and protesting metal echoed once more in the ship. "Come on, darlin'... hold together just a bit longer... momma loves you... momma loves you...!" I spoke to my ship, hoping all the love in the world would make this dumbass plan of mine succeed. There was no turning back. Sliding the toggle all the way up, I opened all the fuel injectors, in essence speeding up as high as I could go. There came a great, unearthly yell from deep below – like some great beast in the throghs of pain – before the altimiter began to climb. "Come on! Go! Goooo!" I cheered it on. I probably should have throttled down.

In a second the tentacle released it's grip on us and we were flung into space instantly at full speed. I was whipped out of my chair and hurled through the still open door, my body crashing four times on the deck before I was hammered into the wall near the transporter, my body hitting the durasteel deck like a lead balloon. At that point in my life, I was confident I was dead. After all, I was just tossed at the speed of light and faster into a durasteel bulkhead that was three feet thick at it's thinnest point. I broke my back at least, or maybe cracked my skull open and I was bleeding on the floor, dead. I didn't care _how_ it happened, but I was convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that I was dead.

 _Kzzt. Bzzt._

Sounds I could only barely hear slowly pulled me out of my coma, a cool sensation running down the back and side of my head. Slowly lifting my heavy head, I looked around, one eye blind to the destruction. Whole panels on the ship were blown out, broken wires and severed connections sparked endlessly as power was fed through them. I opened my mouth to speak, but quickly found that – along with a few other faculties – were a bit beyond me right now. I looked down, noting I was previously lying in a small pool of blood – mine, if I were a betting woman – which was also the cause of my blind eye. Wiping the blood from my eye, I found I was able to see out of it – thankfully – and it would survive the day.

"Ai..." I finally managed to grumble out, looking around. "Status report." I waited for her chipper voice to respond, but I would find it lacking. "Ai?" I looked over to her wall panel, the flashing 'REBOOT REQUIRED' sign visible even from here. "Awwww, shit..." I swore, slowly struggling to find my feet. "C'mon..." I grunted, my legs refusing to cooperate. With a great amount of strength on my part, I finally managed to stand, my shaky and unsteady legs forcing me to brace myself against the wall as I made my slow way towards Ai's control console. My vision swam as I moved, my eyes unable to focus on one point in space... dammit, I've probably got a concussion. Despite having been knocked out for god knows how long, I was exhausted beyond belief... wanting nothing more then to just... fall asleep and never wake up.

A hand fell on the console, fingers struggling to find the command to initiate Ai's reboot function. Blinking and opening my eyes wide, I forced myself to focus. C'mon, just a few seconds... A clunk echoed in the ship, followed by a loud hum, the reboot command executing flawlessly.

"Reboot Complete." Ai spoke. "Are you well?" She asked instantly.

"Fuggin'... no... I'm bleeding, I think I've got a concussion, and I just want to sleep."

"I believe there are some emergency medical supplies in the storage locker." I struggled to remember if I still had them there or not, and after a moment of recalling, I do remember there being a fairly large stash of them. I was always a careful one. Shuffling my way over carefully to the storage locker, I cracked it open and looked inside. Sure enough, there was a large medical kit sitting there, ready for use. Snatching it out of the wall, I dropped it to the ground and sat right next to it... Christ was I tired... "Do try to stay awake. There is a ninety eight percent chance that you will not wake from any coma until those wounds are healed."

"Ah know..." I grumbled, words slurring. "S'why I'm doin' my best." Opening the medical kit, I went right for the adrenaline. Hopefully the boost to my system would keep me awake long enough to start sorting out these wounds. I hate needles... Jamming the syringe into my leg, I felt the rush of adrenaline course through my system; not only would it dull the pain, but would also keep me awake... hopefully. Breaking into the medical kit more, I began to pull out needles, pain killers, gause bandages... pretty much anything I thought I would need. "Ai... do you have any medical records I could use? Because I have no idea what I'm doing."

"Of course..."

To make a long story short, Ai walked me through how to bind the minor lacerations I had, as well as how to properly treat a concussion – which just boiled down to me taking it easy for a while and reporting to Ai any time I had any abnormal condition. By the time I was done, I was already regaining my balance and the fuzzines in my eyes was beginning to clear, so it looked like I was only suffering from a minor concussion, so I should – in theory – be fine in a couple of days.

"How's the vitals on our guests?" I asked Ai after stuffing the medical bag back into the locker, a long strip of gauss wrapped about my head to stop the bleeding.

"No serious injuries detected. It would appear as though their restraints kept them from suffering the worst of the traumatic injuries."

"Lucky-fuckin'-them." I growled. "What's our location."

"Unknown." Ai came back instantly.

"Do an overlay scan of the nearby stars, and cross-reference it with all known starcharts. We have to have some kind of clue."

"I already have. The composition of the constellations and stars do not match any constellation data we currently have. I can, however, inform you that we were in full FTL burn for three hours and eighteen minutes from the time of ignition to reboot. From that information, I can extrapolate an approximate location... one moment." Three hours and eighteen minutes? Fuck me sideways, the longest FTL jump in recorded history was only an hour and a half one way... we made that trip both ways and then some... God, I can only imagine where we are... on the ass-end of the galaxy. "Calculations complete. According to my approximation, we are ten thousand, eight hundred and ninety nine light-years from Earth; and over eight thousand light-years from Terrane Protectorate controlled space." I paused as this information sat in my head. Ten thousand light-years... that's farther then any member of the Protectorate has ever gone. The 'civilized' universe was behind us, and all that lay ahead of us was virgin, unexplored territory. "However; there is one more detail which complicates matters."

"We can't get any more fucked, so... what's up?" I tried to smile away the problems, but they just weren't going away, no matter how much I grinned.

"Due to the shock which shut down my system-" Ai began. "I am unable to back-trace our path. We are ten thousand light-years from home... in an unknown direction. At that range, I do not have to tell you that we can't simply 'pick a direction' and 'hope for the best' as it were... as when we reach our destination..."

"We could still be two to three thousand light-years off..." I finished.

"Correct." I sighed.

"Okay. What's our current suggested course of action?"

"I can see only one: we repair the ship, and make the best of our situation. Perhaps find a habitable planet and settle upon it."

"Oooh, yay. Terraforming." I rolled my eyes, holding my head. "A'ight... no use putting it off anymore. Let's go check on our guests." I began to shuffle my way to the back. "Ai, prime the ship's self-destruct and teather it to my vitals. If I happen to die in the next few minutes, I want a back-up plan." There came a pause and a beep.

"Self-Destruct primed. Ship Captain vitals registered and tied to self-destruct." I wanted to make damn sure I had all the leaverage in the world against these slaves. Slaves where unpredictable when they were let out of captivity... which is why they were only allowed such under heavy guard – men and women in full Solarium or in the even more secure case Impervium armor. UGH! I had an opportunity to purchase a set of Impervium armor, and like a moron, I passed it up! God damn hindsight!

Pressing my hand to the biometric scanner, the little lights flickering on as it acknowledged my fingerprints. With a hiss, the door opened and the hanging little light in the center of the room clicked to life. I didn't go back into the cargo hold much; I didn't really like putting my face out for the slaves to think as the one to stab if they ever got the chance. The cargo hold was dark – even with the light in the center – and decorated cutely in a dungeon motif. Along the two walls on either side of me was eight slaves – one of each known, civilized race – chained to the wall by their arms and legs, kneeling on the floor. The conversation lit up instantly, as they didn't hear the door open.

"...ing you, whoever the hell was flying this ship is _dead_! They're dead, and we're all going to die here, if we don't figure a way out of these damn chains!" A quick, cursory look told me my entire haul was all female – which I was told at the beginning, but confirmations are nice. I said nothing, simply looking at everyone. They were blindfolded and chained to the wall, so my presence went unannounced for a moment. I had to be very careful with these chicks... I've learned in my rather long tenure in this profession that there are three kinds of slaves. The first – which I like to call Ease, because they're bloody easy to work with. Ease are slaves who are consigned to their fate; they know that there's no chance they'll escape, and have accepted that if they do a good job, they will get infinitely better treatment then ones who struggle and fight with their masters. Ease are what I make my bread and butter on. They're easy to transport, they're easy to sell, and if you have to release them from their physical bonds for any reason, they are almost guaranteed not to stab you in the back when you're not looking.

The second type are a little number I've taken to calling Firebrands. Firebrands are the exact opposite of Ease slaves. Whereas Ease are consigned to their fate, and have given up all fight; Firebrands believe that the more they struggle, the more they make their master's lives difficult, the higher chance they have to escape and be free. Funny fact about Firebrands, is their openly rebellious attitude often has the opposite effect, causing their master's grip to tighten and their chances of escape – or of an easy life, for that matter – to quickly close. Some clients revel in the chance to break Firebrands of their beliefs, and I know... er... knew... one such who made a living out of turning Firebrands into Ease, then reselling them. He... he was a wonder to behold.

And the third type... the kind you've always got to be wary of... are the Switch Hitters. Switch Hitters are _dangerous_ if you don't know what to look out for. Switch Hitters start off pretending to be Ease, but are actually Firebrands. They attempt to lull you into a false sense of security before killing you when you least expect. Thankfully, they almost always have a few character flaws that make them easy to identify for those of us – such as moi – who have been in this game long enough to know the ticks. Switch Hitters like to pretend to be broken slaves; like to say all the yeses and noes that a broken slave would... but they often can't control their bodies. A Switch Hitter will flinch – if only for a tiny second – when asked to do something they really don't care for. Ease slaves don't care. They have admitted that that is their lives now, and will do it without so much as a flinch of negative. Also, Switch Hitters sometimes forget their 'Master' and 'Mistress' when addressing those in authority.

"But... we can't get out of them..." A smaller, more demure voice addressed the hot-headed one. "They are secured to the wall, and very well kept... not a hint of rust upon them."

"That's the kind of attitude that will get us dead! We don't need a damn puppy, we need someone to get us out of here!"

"Are we all alright?" I finally spoke up, my voice carrying far in the stone-lined dungeon. I heard the fire-filled voice – assuredly a Firebrand – gasp and shut up real quick, wondering how much of that conversation I heard. "I mean, we must be... we're all talking about escape here..."

"I have to apologize for her, Mistress." Came the demure voice again. "She doesn't understand her place." Ease.

"Quite alright. Most talk about escape once or twice... lemme just take a look at your bonds here... make sure nothing was...jarred loose in our butt-clenching escape from Earth."

"E-escape?" Came the demure voice again. I walked down the lines and saw a Hylotl figure who owned the voice. "We... were told that was our last destination." As I answered her, I checked their chains, just to be sure they were still secured.

"Yeah. Escape. See... ya'll need to start figuring out what diety you made happy... because we're all exceedingly lucky... you more then me, of course. See, ya'll were bound for Grand Protector Greenfrond's dinner table." I heard a voice gasp. "But... some giant tentacle monster the size of a planet saw fit to stop that by... well... destroying Earth." Silence fell across everyone.

"You... you're lying!" Came the human in the rear. "Nothing that big exists!"

"Trust me, Daisy Duke." I spoke to the human. "I know what I saw, and I wouldn't believe it either if I didn't see it myself." She went quiet. "So here's the situation we're in. Our ship is damaged, in dire need of repairs. We are currently in orbit over 'Fuck-If-I-Know-Whereistan' some ten thousand light years from Earth's last known location. So here's what I need... I need a few trustworthy souls to join me on an expedition to the planet." It had been a conclusion I had come to just a little while ago. My ship was not equipped for a long-haul mission like this... I didn't carry enough food for myself for long periods of time, let alone eight others. So, we would need to secure a food supply first. Then, worry about repairs to the ship.

"And before I take volunteers, I do have to mention something..." I crouched next to another slave and played with the collar about her neck. "You can feel those nice, heavy collars you're wearing, right? See... those are bomb collars. They're designed to prevent slaves from escaping, but in my case, I make sure to give you those pretty collars... to make sure you don't stab me in the ass when I least expect it. I've tied my vital signs to the ship's self-destruct – and by extention – your collars. In short, if I die, you _all_ die with me." I stood up.

"I thought I recognized that voice..." The slave who's collar I was playing with spoke. "You're Lysylla Schatternae, aren't you? The 'Pretty Little Psycho' the Travelers have been trying to catch for years." I figured it would be another Felin who would recognize me. I squatted down a bit and patted her head.

"Well look'it you. All smart in figuring me out. What gave it away? The bomb collars? Tying my vitals into the self-destruct?"

"All of it. You're... insane." She spoke simply. "You're wanted in a hundred systems by a hundred different factions!"

"I imagine it'll be quite a few more by the time we're done here." I mused idly. "Anyway, yes, that's me. So that begs the question, cutie..." I lifted her chin up. She was fair-furred, her body covered in short, dark hairs. "Does that mean you won't help me?"

" _Of course it does!_ " She spat back. "You buy and sell _lives_ for a living! You make your life on our misfortune! Why the hell would I help a _criminal_ like you!?"

"Mm, the way you say 'criminal' has my heart all a-flutter." I played with her, stroking under her chin, which caused her to pull away.

"Don't touch me, you pyschopath!"

"Mistress..." Came the demure Hylotl again. "I... I'll help you."

"That's a good girl!" I smiled, clasping my hands together.

"Don't help her, what are you doing?!" Came the other Felin. "She's just using you, don't you see!"

"Good girls who help me... are helping themselves. I promise if you help me, I may even let you out of your bonds for a bit." I shrug. "Who knows, maybe they'll be a nice warm bed in it for you, too." I squatted back to the Felin. "Whaddaya say?"

"I'll never help you." She growled with determination. I grinned.

"Starvation it is, then. I have to conserve all the food we get for people who are actually working. Sorry sugar, can't afford to feed a layabout." I took to my feet and dusted my knees off. "Alright, I'll need one more person to help, who's up for it?" Everyone fell silent for a moment, some moving their heads around as though they were thinking. "No one?"

"Floran will help!" A voice chirped from the back. I crossed my arms and smiled, sauntering over to the chained Floran. "Floran iss good hunter! Floran find many good meats! Floran bring them back and cook them nicely! Or not cook! Floran not know how meat is preferred." I crouched down in front of the Floran. Even tied and blindfolded it was easy to tell that she was a huntress by trade. Scantly dressed – even by slave standards – she bore the mark of a hunter on her forehead.

"Hunter, huh?" She nodded.

"Yess yess! Besst hunter in Floran'ss tribe!"

"Pretty good with a spear?"

"Very good with sspear!" I lifted her chin so our eyes would have met, were she not blindfolded. My other hand went flat over her chest, over her heart.

"Good at tracking? Not being seen?"

"Floran good at tracking. Prefer not ssneaky, but sstabby."

"Prefer to charge your pray, huh?" She nodded. I didn't catch any hiccup in her heart's rythym as we spoke, so she's either too dumb to lie, or telling the truth.

"Floran like fight, not ssneaky."

"So... you're good with a spear... and a good hunter?" She nodded. "Sounds like a recipe for disaster, if you ask me. What's to say you won't turn on me the second you get a spear in your hand?"

"Floran good hunter... but Floran also like living. Floran not want head to go boom." I want to make something abundantly clear right now: _I am not a fighter_. I have never lifted a weapon of any kind in my entire life. If this Floran decided to turn a spear on me, I can almost promise you, I wouldn't survive it.

"And what if I took this collar of?" I asked a hypothetical question. "What if I were to remove this collar, and give you a spear?"

"Floran not know where Floran is. Maybe planet hass people... maybe planet not have people... not rissk Floran willing to take. Right now, Floran may not like sslaver... but Floran know sslaver Floran'ss besst chance at ssurvival. Floran help in all wayss Floran can." Her heart never flinched awkwardly as she spoke... she was about as honest as a woman can get. I reached over and tore the blindfold off of her eyes. "Ah... bright..." She looked up at me with those big onyx eyes of hers and smiled. "Floran give you promisse."

"I know. That's why I'm giving you your chance. _Do not_ make me regret it." She shook her head as I unlocked her binds. With her still in my eyesight, I went over to the Hylotl who was all submissive earlier. "And you..." I spoke to her. "Hylotl." She perked up. "Why should I let you help me?"

"B-because Mistress..." She stammered. I already knew her kind... she was an Ease, I could tell right out of the gate. I felt like grilling her just to make it fair. "I'll do whatever you ask of me to please you. I'll... I'll walk out of the airlock in FTL if it'll make you happy! I give you my everything, my mind and body and soul and... and... everything."

"Even if you didn't want to?"

"My needs are secondary to yours."

"And if I asked something terrible of you? Sent you to your death knowingly, ravaged your body against your will?"

"I would smile and say 'yes Mistress'." She was stupider then hell... but loyal without question. Reaching up, I unlocked her binds and took off her blindfold.

"You're dumb... but I know you won't betray me." Going about undoing their leg binds as well, I ordered them to follow me. "Follow me, stay close and listen to what I say... and we'll all be fine." I paused over the Felin. "I was serious about her, by the way. She starves until she repents."

"Yes, Mistress." The Hylotl bowed a little to me. Heh. Could get used to this.

"Ai, begin landing proceedures."


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter One

With the main engine offline – paired with a seemingly limitless number of rocky landing sites – it was near impossible to land my small ship on the planet. Ai detected some 'interesting wreckage' on her descent and managed to park us over a small creek near said wreckage. I gave cursory instructions to the slaves who stayed aboard my ship, and more detailed ones who went with. I watched with disconcerting ease as the Floran fashioned a spear out of nothing but a loose length of crabgrass, a sharp rock and a pretty hefty tree branch she picked off the ground. I was both terrified and impressed at her ingenuity and the deftness at which she could craft implements of death.

"Floran be back in a bit. Hour, maybe two at most. Bring back many meatss." She confirmed before disappearing into the foliage of the nearby trees. We were in a clearing in a forest, trees surrounding us and stretching into the sky, with a small creek of fresh water running under the ship. As far as landing sites went, it was a pretty picturesque view... but I didn't care for it much.

"Right." I spoke once the Floran was out of earshot, deep into the trees. "While she goes and gets us food, you and I are going to take a look at the wreckage that Ai detected on the way down."

"Will that be okay? To leave the ship unguarded?" I took a steady note at her concern and looked to the ship.

"Ai." A beep from the small belt-clipped device on my hip confirmed she could hear me. "Enter lockdown mode." The gangplank to the ship retracted up and the door behind it shut and locked tight. A red light above the door told me the ship was fully secured. I nodded happily. "Thank you, Ai." Unclipping the object from my belt, I looked it over. That Floran was wearing collar... fifteen, I think. Dailing the digital number to fifteen, I pressed the button and brought it to my lips. "Hey Floran." I spoke. "The Hylotl and I are going to check the wreckage. If you get back before we do, just see if you can't get most of that cooking." She could hear me, but couldn't respond. I knew she heard me... I just hoped she listened. "Alright, let's head out. Ai said the wreckage is this way. Keep your eyes peeled, and we should get out of this just fine."

To say I kept an eye on the girl would be an understatement. I constantly found myself turning around and looking behind me – checking the surroundings, I told her – just to make sure she wasn't going to stab me in the back. I know I told them all about the bomb collars, and the self destruct and the yadda yadda yadda but _fuck me sideways_ if _one_ of them won't try it.

"Mistress, why don't you let me take the lead? Th-that way if I take leave of my senses... you'll at least see it coming..." Clever-fucking-girl managed to peg me outright. I may not have given her enough credit.

"Yeah, alright. Sounds solid." I stopped walking and let her pull in front. "Just keep heading that way, we're almost there." I saw her nod as she continued walking. God, I need to walk more. As we moved through the forest, it became painfully obvious that my otherwise decadent lifestyle up until now had left me horribly out of shape for moving for long periods of time over rather rough terrain. The Hylotl slave, on the otherhand, seemed quite adept at scaling small rock foundations and balancing her way over log bridges. "Tell me-" I spoke as I finished crossing a log bridge. "You're quite nimble... did you do this sorta stuff a lot before... ya know..."

"My parents used to take me camping all the time." She mused. "I like the wildernesses of Pluto and Mars-" Both those planets were terraformed years ago into basically what equated to paradise worlds. Lots of lush forests and cool rivers. Mars was even shipped a two thousand ton asteroid made completely of ice from an off-world Hylotl benefactor to create oceans. They still get those ice shipments once in a while. "-so I suppose yeah... I did it a lot. And I do enjoy it, Mistress." She mused. "Though, if you'll excuse me, you don't look so good. Do you need a rest?"

"Nah... I'd rather get this done with and back to the ship before too long. Rest when we get back."

"As you wish, Mistress." We crested a hill and saw our target. Plowed into the ground at the base of this hill was a wrecked ship. Looked to be a wrecked Eagle-Class Protectorate Cruiser... human make, by the looks of it. "Is that a-" She began.

"-Protectorate Ship... yes... C'mon, let's see if anything survived." We started down the hill towards it. Judging by the amount of foliage growing around the nose and neck of the ship, it had been here for _quite_ some time... a good maybe fifty or so years... Taking the last few meters to the entrance of the ship by landslide, I gazed upon the side of the behemoth. _PNS Amarthine Sky_ was written in faded paint across the side of the ship.

"Th-" I stammered out. "The _Amarthine Sky_?! The _original Amarthine Sky_?!Jesus, this thing has been lost for a hundred and twenty years!" I blurted out. The _Amarthine Sky_ was one of the first Protectorate Ships that went beyond the Sol System in the years before humans realized they weren't alone in the universe. Hell, it was five years after the _Amarthine Sky_ was launched that the first alien races – the Hylotl and Felin – joined the Protectorate. The ship was launched, and never heard from again. Over the years, it's become a bit of a Protectorate folk tale – some believe it was sucked into a black hole and launched into an alternate reality, where others believe it was attacked and destroyed by hostile aliens. There have been – of course – several iterations of the _Amarthine Sky_ , such as the one that was destroyed above Earth not too long ago. But this? This was the original. The first. And still admittedly probably the best... if not smallest. Been rebuilding the thing bigger and bigger every time. Before breaching the already breached main hatch, I took a cursory look at the exterior of the ship. There was no obvious damage done to it's exterior, nothing that would suggest as to why it crashed here. "How'd you get _here_ of all places? So far from home... _ghad_ I can't imagine what it must feel like to die so far from home and... no one even know." Grasping hold of the side of the door, I pulled myself in, my eyes adjusting nearly instantly to the all-consuming darkness that filled the interior of the ship.

"My, it's awfully dark in here..." The Hylotl muttered. "Be careful you don't trip and fall, Mistress." Thankfully, I could see very well in this old hulk, so tripping and falling wasn't something I was really worried about.

 _Cough... cough cough..._

Now the dust... the dust was an honest-to-god concern of mine... woman could choke and die on all the fuckin' dust in here. Waving my hand in front of my face in a vain attempt to clear the dust, I continued on through the derelict corridors. "Hey..." I spoke to my partner, her red eyes shimmering in the low light. "Head to the engine deck, see if there are any spare parts we might make use of." She nodded and turned in the other direction, towards the rear of the ship. "And if there is anything dangerous aboard, don't stick around too much." I shouted back to her just as she disappeared around a corner. I turned back and began to work my way onward, towards the bridge. I may have been a slaver, and on the run from a hundred plus different factions in the known galaxy... but before all that, I was a young girl who had grown up with the story of the _Amarthine Sky_ and like _hell_ I was letting this opportunity to solve a century-old mystery pass me by.

I came eventually to the door to the bridge; bent and twisted all out of shape as vines coiled around it's access rails which carried it into the floor and ceiling. I could probably squeeze myself between the crack and slip in... Putting both hands on the lower door, I threw my weight forward and balanced on my hands, then thrust forward and rolled through the gap in the door, coming to a dusty landing on the other side. Heh... s'been almost ten years since I went to acrobatics class, and still remember a thing or two. Brushing the dust off my clothes (if you really wanted to call them that) I took stock around the bridge. It was fairly standard as far as Protectorate vessels went – a single chain in the middle for the captain and three consoles surrounding that lone chair. Bodies were in all four chairs; skeletalized and very old... they've been here for a while, that much was obvious. The corpse in the captain's chair was wearing a moth-eaten, weathered Protectorate uniform, his slouched pose hinted that he may have died in the crash. Another body was doubled over the navigational console with a splatter of long-dried coppery blood painting the console over which he leaned. The skeleton had a clean through-and-through hole in it's ribcage, several bones shattered from some kind of impact. The pilot's seat held no corpse, though it took little looking before I found it crumpled up behind the console; as though it had been thrown from the seat from the impact... made sense, these ships didn't have seatbelts, nor were they registered for such a hard landing.

The fourth and final body was laying in it's seat, head slumped forward and body on the verge of collapsing into the console. Whoever these people were... whatever dreams or aspirations they had... they set out to explore the universe at large... and they all died, cold and alone on an unknown planet years away from home.

"I almost hate to ransack this ship for parts but... well... you're dead, and we're still alive. So..." I ducked over to the captain's seat and dusted off the small console at the arm's rest. I poked a few buttons just to see – on the off, off, off chance – if the reactor still functioned. And of course it didn't... I sighed heavily, shaking my head at the sheer stupidity of the idea of a ship being this old and still functioning.

Something shimmered and caught my eye. Squeezed between a bony thigh and the arm of the chair was a metal device that the former captain seemed to wear on his hip. "Hello, what do we have here?" I reached down – fighting my gag reflex for touching something as _disgusting_ as a hundred year old skeleton – before my fingers found the device and pulled it up. It was instantly worth the gag. In nearly pristine condition – much to my surprise – was an honest-to-god, completely undamaged (physically, anyway) Matter Manipulator. "...oh my god..." I whispered, afraid that my voice would raise the angry spirits from the dead. I couldn't go into detail about how _badly_ I've wanted one of these things. The closest thing we have to a miracle device, the Matter Manipulator was a wonderous device that could break down almost any physical object into lines of digital code, store that code inside it's bloody _massive_ internal harddrive, then reconstitute it back into it's original object at will.

The Terrane Protectorate had the fuckin' secrets to making these things so far under lock and key not even the _Grand Protector_ herself had access to them. I would have sold _myself_ into slavery for a chance to get my paws on this thing. Flipping it over, I studied it for it's on switch. I pushed button after button, hoping to find something that would turn it on. A small, almost invisible switch on it's back side eventually proved to be the on switch I was looking for. "Please work... oh baby please work..." I mused, watching the little flip-out screen on it's left side. It flickered for a moment then turned to a solid white. "Oh thank you, sweet baby Jesus!" The Terrane Protectorate logo appeared as the boot-up screen, which shortly took me to a blue screen with a message.

 _Internal Harddrive Malfunction. Internal Clock Malfunction. Please reset time and date._ I quickly keyed in the date – August 15th, YP 531 – followed by a rough estimate of what the Earth Standard Time was. It's gotta be close to midnight, or something... I don't know. _Time and Date accepted. Biometrics do not match previous owner. If previous owner is deceased, please scan body._ I looked it over before gripping the handle in one hand and pointing it at the old captain's corpse. A gentle squeeze of the trigger caused a soft blue light to lash out and dance about the corpse. A few seconds later was met with a beep. _Updating records. Captain Johan Mills; PNS Amarthine Sky confirmed deceased as of YP 388. Cause of death: blunt trama to head. New user, please scan self._ Blinking, I turned the device around and used my thumb to trigger the scan on myself. The same blue light danced around my body for a moment before the soft blue screen lit up an angry red. _Pysiology unknown. Please provide information. Species Name?_ I floundered for a while before it clicked. This thing was from _before_ the other races joined. It didn't have all that data. I cleared my throat.

"Felin." I spoke clearly.

 _Confirmed. Species identified as 'Felin'. Gender?_ Fuckin' duh. "Female." I told it. After another few beeps and boops, it seemed to take my answer. _Records updated._ Was I going to have to do this with every new species? Floran, Apex, Novakid, Glitch!? Oh, _god_ it was going to flip it's _shit_ when I have to scan a Glitch! _Please speak an identifying name:_ I took a deep breath before answering. "Lysylla Schatternae." I spoke plainly and quickly. The little circle appeared on the screen, telling me it was working. _Please spell phonetically._ I knew that was going to happen. I went about the painstaking process of spelling both my first and last name for the machine. _Confirmed._ It finally spoke. _Welcome, Lysylla_. Well, at least it could pronounce my name properly. I turned it over in my hand and examined it. For being over a hundred years old... it was in _really_ good condition. I had heard rumors from my few contacts in the Protectorate that the Matter Manipulators were made out of some alien technology... that the things were actually somewhat sentient... at least smart enough to keep themselves fixed. Could this little thing been maintaining itself all these years?

"Mistress?" A familiar voice echoed in the dead corridor behind the door I struggled through. "Mistress, where are you?" She continued to call out.

"On the bridge. Are you okay?" I watched her head appear in the small gap in the door.

"Oh! Oh, there you are, Mistress! Yes, I'm quite well. I just wanted to tell you that there _are_ actually spare parts aboard the ship! Quite a few! It looks like they never got around to actually using them..."

"That's because they all died in the crash." I motioned to the corpses around me. Wiggling the Matter Manipulator, I grinned. "Found a thing, though! It works. Hang on, lemme see if I can get that mangled door out of your way." I flipped up the little screen on the side of the Manipulator and pointed it to the door, the object highlighting with a soft blue glow on the screen. "Okay so... do I-" I squeezed the trigger on the handle, a pair of beams splitting out of the muzzle of the tool and began to... I don't really know how to describe it. It was like 3D printing... but in reverse? If that makes any sense. Instead of _creating_ the object, it broke it down and absorbed it into the Manipulator. Once it was all finished – the ruined door clear and safe inside the Manipulator's storage bay, I grinned, looking at the tool. "Neat."

"Is that a... Matter Manipulator?"

"Sure is. The ol' captain here had it. Figured he ain't usin' it anymore so... I took it. Hang on." I flipped it back to scan mode and gave the Hylotl a quick scan down. _Error: unknown creature. Please Identify._ "Ah, figured it would do that. Hylotl." I spoke to the Manipulator, it beeping after a second. _New Species identified: Hylotl._ I shrugged to her. "I wouldn't take offense. It didn't know what I was, either." I took one last look at the Matter Manipulator, trying to find some place on my person to put it. "Damn, gonna need like... a hook on a belt or something..." I muttered. "Anyway, not important. Let's see these supplies of yours." She nodded and motioned me to follow her.

We wound our way through the bowels of the ship, pipes and wires hanging from the ceiling and more then one vine creeping in, eventually coming to a pried open door that looked like it had seen better days. Inside was the engine room – in relatively good state, if I do say so – complete with the Erchius Crystal storage. I hoped beyond any vain hope that the crystal had been able to survive the crash, but with how notoriously fragile those things are, I highly doubt it did. I dipped to my knees and punched the unlock code on the storage locker. Nothing. Of course 'nothing' because the ship doesn't have any power! I mentally chastised myself at the silliness of my actions.

"Mistress?" The Hylotl spoke. I looked up to see her holding a two-handed break bar. "May I?" I stepped back and motioned her to continue, keeping an eye on her, just in case she started swinging it like a mace. She stepped up and hefted the crowbar over her head, before bringing it down hard on one of the locks of the capsule, the fragile, rusted metal shattering with the overwhelming force of the blow. She switched up to the second lock. These capsules were decently insulated. If – and I highly doubt this is the case – but if the crystal had survived, her bashing it with a big-ass crowbar was about as likely to break the crystal as it would be to punch a hole in the ship. Plausible, but highly unlikely.

With the second lock broken, she jammed the prybar end of the crowbar into the capsule and threw all of her weight into prying the lid off. Careful of my footing, I shuffled over to give her a hand, throwing my weight into it as well. With a hiss and a _thunk_ , the capsule lid popped open, letting us pull it the rest of the way out. "Aaaaah..." I growled when the crystal was lifted out. "Can't say that's a fuckin' surprise." The entire crystal – a pink, diamond-shaped gem with a milky-pink substance swirling inside – had been completely shattered, the pieces flopping every which way once it had been removed from containment.

"We... need this, right? This crystal?"

"Yeah... it's the whole core of the FTL system. Without it, we'd be slow-boating it everywhere..."

"Is it possible that there are others on the ship?"

"Oh, I don't doubt that. Protectorate ships usually carry three or four replacements, but they aren't usually stored in what one might call safe places. Erchius crystals are stupid fragile... a single nick and it might as well be broken."

"Where can we get another?"

"Well... Erchius Geodes are fairly common... they form on a lot of low-gravity moons from the liquid Erchius. The Crystals though... they're more rare. I know the Protectorate mined them off of Demos, Europa and Tethys... but we're _way_ too far away to be thinking about going there. It'd take us literal millenia to slow-boat back home." I paused, a thought running through my head. "If... and mind this is a _big_ if... but if there are other people out in this end of the galaxy – I wouldn't put it past them – but if there are... they may just have an Erchius mining facility _somewhere_ we could get a replacement."

"How... big of an if are we talking about, Mistress?" I thought about an analogy for her.

"We'd have better luck walking in space without an EPP." She nodded, mouthing 'I see' as she went back. "Fuck it, no use bemoaning our luck. Even if we can't fix the FTL, we can at least get our main engines back online, and maybe our sensors as well." Suddenly, the little squawk box at my waist beeped.

"Captain-" It was Ai. I picked it up instantly.

"Yeah, Ai, what's up?"

"Short-range sensors are picking up strange anomalies just on the other side of the ridge from you. Continue south-south-west and you should locate the source." I blinked. An 'anomaly'? When Ai said 'anomaly' I never liked it. It meant it was something _she couldn't identify_.

"Uuuuh, sssssure..." I stretched out. "Has the Floran returned yet?"

"Negative. Her bio-signature is still some distance in the forest." I nodded, then turned to the Hylotl.

"Right, feel up for another trek before dinner?"

"Of course, Mistress." She nodded happily. I flicked the Matter Manipulator back and began to deconstruct everything that even looked useful. Even a spare screw could come in handy. I broke the entire engine assembly down into it's composite parts and stored them within the Manipulator. Hopefully, our technology isn't too dissimilar today then it was a hundred years ago, and the Matter Manipulator could patch the ship up nice and new.

Like hell I was going around this ship... Once I had disassembled the engine assembly, I set about carving a hole into the ship's hull to expedite our search for the 'anomaly' that Ai had detected. It didn't surprise me she just detected it. Gravitational arrays on planets tend to mess with sensors, so it usually take eight or nine passes to pick up a signal, and probably an additional ten or twenty to lock onto it's coordinates. I hopped out of the newly made hole in the hull (perfect square) and turned around to help the Hylotl down. She jumped down into my arms.

"Thank you, Mistress."

"Don't mention it." I muttered. "Alright... anomalies... Anom-nom-nomalies." I muttered, forgetting for a moment that I was with company – albeit she was smart enough to keep her gob shut about my penchant to talk to myself. Grappling the communicator once more, I brought it back up to extract more information from Ai. "Hey Ai, what kind of energy readings are you picking up? Nuclear? Solar?" She paused for a moment, trying to find an answer to my question.

"The signature is a close match to the same energy utilized in Protectorate teleportation pads." _Teleportation_. I instantly heaved at the thought. I didn't _like_ teleporting... it made me feel all... funny. Plus, there was that overwhelming thought that getting broken down at a molecular level, traveling faster then light across a space of unknown size, and _hoping_ the system can put you back together again just... didn't sit right with me. So, no. I was a 'land and hang with it' kind of girl.

The pair of us continued on our trek towards the strange energy signature. That sensation of 'I'm horribly out of shape' began to rear it's ugly head a few moments later, and by the time we reached the last hill on our journey – indicated by Ai telling me it was 'just over this hill' – I was ready for a sit-down break. "Captain-" Speaking of Ai. "The Floran Slave has returned with quite the haul of meat. She's built a small campfire outside of the ship and has been happily cooking."

"Excellent." I answered back with a heave. "Once we're... once we're done here, we'll head back and..." I exhaled sharply. "...get some dinner."

"I sense someone needs to walk more."

"Fuck you, Ai." I growled, returning the communicator to my waist. The Hylotl turned as she scaled the rock formation before her and held a hand down to me.

"Take my hand, Mistress. I'll help you up." Balancing myself on a rock, Manipulator hand on a tree for support, I took her hand with my free one and felt her pull me up.

"You're... quite strong." I heaved. "What did you do before all this?" She smiled at me, her three eyes shimmering at the question.

"Surley, Mistress, there must be some rule you set down for yourself to not get too friendly with the slaves, yes?" She answered as she climbed the rest of the way to the top of the hill.

"Well yeah..." I answered taking a deep breath to try to catch my otherwise shortness of it. "...yeah, but you know. Figured I should learn a little about you... for reasons." I put both hands on my back and leaned back to stretch. "Ugh, this is gonna give me such a stitch in my side..." I paused. "So, I can't just keep calling you 'Hylotl'. Do you have a name?" She looked me over and smiled sweetly.

"It's... Yuzuki, Mistress. Thank you for... asking."

"You understand it's purely because I don't feel like saying 'Hylotl' over and over again, right?"

"Regardless of the reason, Mistress, I'm happy you asked." Okay, so her name was Yuzuki. "If... you'd prefer... you could also call me Yuzu..."

"You're not my friend, you're a slave. Make me happy over the next two weeks, I might consider calling you Yuzu. Until then, you're nothing more then a body shield in case shit goes south." I heard her giggle at that.

"Of course, Mistress." We turned to continue our trek, and the moment we started down the mountain, the source of the energy source was apparent. "Mistress... do you see that?" Fuckin' hard not to. At the base of the mountain – some hundred, two hundred feet below – sat a sprawling structure that looked very out of place amongst the forest of the planet. Dark grey bricks created a near perfectly circular platform, in the center of which stood a massive stonework arch, with a control console in the middle of it. We descended cautiously towards it, Yuzu getting closer to me the closer we got to it.

It felt weird, switching from natural terrain to the obviously cut stonework which surrounded the structure... the grass and dirt looked almost afraid of the stone, and I could instantly see why. The moment my nearly bare foot hit the stone, small lines around the arch and in the floor lit up, humming with a bright blue energy. "Energy spike detected, Captain." Ai informed me the moment the energy spike hit. The console in the center – dormant and dark just a few seconds prior – suddenly lit up with a beautiful ice-blue hue as digits raced across it's tiny screen. "Captain... I'm detecting a communication coming from the console... I can probably boost the signal."

"Patch it through..." I muttered to her, holding the communicator in my other hand.

" _If you're reading this... then you've come across an Ancient Gateway. Please... I have something I must discuss with you, as it's a matter of galactic porportions. The Gateway could be powered up by either mining Core Shards from the planet's core, or by utilizing some other power source. Please... power up the gateway and come find me... I must meet you._ " Fuck that, like hell I was going to dig to the _center of the fucking planet_ for a couple of Core Shards. I mean... okay, I could collect a couple dozen of them to sell them on the black market and get rich while doing it but _oh yeah the black market exploded_! So... with that in mind, I set about the path of least resistance.

"Yuzuki." I spoke to her. Ghad, it was so much better to have a name associated to her. "Have you ever lit a campfire?"

"Dozens of times. Why?" I motioned to the wooded plain not too far from the stone clearing.

"'Cause I'm gonna go clear enough room for Ai to land the ship here, meanwhile, I want you to help the Floran cook us up some dinner. You okay with that?" I heard her chirp happily.

"Certainly, Mistress! Let me just go collect some wood, and-"

"Don't bother. I'mma make your life easy." I motioned her to follow me as I strode into the forest, detatching the communicator as I did. "Hey, Ai."

"Captain?"

"Prep the ship for launch, and inform the Floran she's to collect everything she's hunted and re-board the ship. _Keep a bloody eye on her_." I decided to add in. "Once she's on board and you're prepped, launch, and travel to my location. I'mma clear you a spot to land near the energy signature." A pause.

"Captain, if you'll excuse me for speaking out of turn... your 'chosen profession' was not one of physical activity. It would take me a total of fifteen minutes to complete pre-flight check and travel to your location... this ship is of sufficient length and width where you would be forced to clear-cut at least a football field's worth of trees to give me enough space to land. Ignoring for a moment that with a crew of fifty lumberjacks, that kind of job would take a whole day... how are you going to remove the stumps and logs?" I chuckled at her winded question.

"A crew of fifty lumberjacks don't have Matter Manipulators, Ai." I flipped the screen out of the Manipulator with my thumb, then turned it to the nearest tree, the blue line lashing out and slicing deeply into the tree's wooden trunk. "Just prep the ship and no back-sass."

"Yes, Captain." Once the gash in the trunk was deep enough, the entire tree shuddered and started it's descent down. "Watch out, Yuzuki." She leapt backwards expertly just as the tree came crashing down. "Sorry, I've never done this before... Don't quite know how to make it go where I want..." She gave a chuckle.

"Don't worry, Mistress. No harm done." I pointed the Manipulator at the stump and dissolved it down flat, flush with the grass. Even Ai couldn't complain about that job. Turning to the log, I collected it into the Manipulator's harddrive and then pointed to the stonework circle which was the foundation for this 'gateway' thing, before switching modes and depositing the log – handily chopped into perfect two-foot long quarters of tree – in a neat pile. "Oh my!" Yuzu gasped. "That's so cool!"

"I know, I'm so stoked it still works." I put on my professional face. "Alright, get to work."

"Yes, Mistress!" She nodded happily, going to the pile of wood to begin to start a fire. While she worked on that, I sketched out a rectangular-shaped landing spot for the ship, storing all the wood in the Manipulator's harddrive, and knocking the stumps flush with the terrain. To make an otherwise long story short, I spent fifteen minutes, and against all odds, I had managed to clear enough room for Ai to land the ship, just as I heard her engines overhead.

"Color me impressed, Captain. Beginning landing sequence." I was very proud of myself... but also in a significant amount of pain from all the work, and took a seat on the cool stone to watch Ai land the ship. Once the ship had set down and the ramp dropped, I watched the Floran come down the gangplank with what appeared to be a bear hide bag dragging along behind her. She dropped the bag by the decently sized campfire Yuzu had created.

"Fisshy make good fire. Good heat, fisshy should be proud." Yuzu giggled at the Floran's words and accepted them graciously with a bow.

"Alright, you two are currently the only two I'm trusting right now... and 'trust' might be a bit of a stretch. Once you've fed yourselves – Yuzuki because you helped me out a lot today, and you-" I needed to learn the Floran's name too, I guess. "-because you did a damn good job bringing quite the haul back – I want you to make sure the rest get fed. They're to stay chained and blindfolded for now. Feed 'em like you would a baby. The other Felin in there? She _starves_ , understood? If I catch either of you feeding her, you'll be back in chains and _you'll_ be starving as well, hear?"

"Yes, Mistress."

"Floran listenss." The Floran nodded. "But... Floran have quesstion?" I grunted a response, letting her know she can continue. "What good is kitty if dead? Sshouldn't we feed her ssomething?"

"It's like this. When it comes down to it, people will always save their own skins. Once she realizes she's only got one choice – bein' either she listen to me, or she starves to death – I can promise you she'll rethink her stance. Once she's starved enough, she'll recant. I promise you that." I waved to her. "She won't die. Unless she wants to, at which point... I don't care." Truth be told, I could afford to have one... _maybe_ two of them die and still survive well enough. More hands were just more hands. Yuzuki and the Floran nodded. "Oh, and Floran?" She perked up, her big onyx eyes locking with me. "What's your name?"

"Floran iss called Nakadi." I nodded to her.

"Alright, Nakadi. You and Yuzuki eat your fill, then see to it the others get fed as well. Just... don't _stuff_ them, okay. Give 'em enough to sustain themselves, then put the rest in the refrigerated locker near the bridge." I, again, don't feed layabouts. "I have a sinking suspicion I'm about to be very glad I had that fridge installed..." I got to my feet and sauntered tiredly towards the campfire, the warmth of the flames caressing my soft fur in their gentle love. Nakadi fished out a piece of steak – a nice cut, might I add – and placed it on a roughly hewn slab of wood that vaguely resembled a plate.

"Floran ssave best cut for kitty." She handed me the plate and gave a little nod. "Consider it gift for not killing Floran outright."

Eating with just a rough wooden plate was barbaric, but it was the only thing we were afforded right now. I'd worry about buying some fancy plates and shit later, but right now, we needed to get our strength back. I had stripped off my gloves and had picked up the well-cooked steak like one might take a cookie, and took a bite out of it. It practically melted in my mouth... _shit_ was I glad I assigned the Floran to that. Floran were a barbaric at best people... but if you wanted a cook or soldier, you could literally not find a better.

Once Yuzuki and Nakadi had eaten their fill – a whole steak for Yuzuki and three for Nakadi – they cooked up a decent supply of the meat and placed it on a larger rough wooden plate, and brought it inside the ship. I picked up my gloves and stuffed them into the waistband of my panties, before carrying my own plate into the ship to watch. The two of them did exactly as I asked, each picking a side and helping the still-chained slaves get something in their stomach. I watched Nakadi pass right over the other Felin and to the Apex near the rear.

"H-hey... you passed me..." The Felin mused.

"Floran aware." Nakadi answered with a nod. "Floran under expresss orders not to feed kitty."

"Oh fer-" She growled. "Don't listen to everything that bitch says! She's a freakin' psychopath! Don't you know the moment you outlive your usefulness, she'll just toss your asses out the fuckin' airlock!" I heard Yuzuki laugh a little.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to make sure we don't outlive our usefulness, right Mistress?" I nodded.

"Righ'" I still had a mouthful of steak. The other Felin clammed up, not fully realizing I was – once again – standing right there.

"Bitch! Start fuckin' _saying_ when you're there!"

"Nah. That's not fun." I finished my meal – hands drenched in meat juice – and walked over to her. She was right about one thing. "Here's the deal, sweetie. You start learning your place, start helping us all out and stop being such a selfish, ignorant bitch, and I'll consider to feed you."

"Please! Dammit, something! I haven't eaten in two days!" I smiled at this. It was pathetically hilarious how she slung all these insults my way, and then begged and pleaded for food. What did she take me for, a church?

"Oh good! That's just one more day I don't have to wait!" I smiled, looking down at my hands. "I suppose I could let you suck the meat juice off my fingers but... you're a daft cunt if you think I'm puttin' anything of mine in your mouth." I watched her growl, like she was hoping I would, so she could bite my bloody finger off. "For now..." I put both hands on her chest palm-down and drug both hands down the front of her chest, wiping the juice off on her. "...you're name is officially Napkin." Turning my hands over, I dried the back side of them off on her too. "Thanks, Napkin." I patted her head condescendingly and stood.

"Don't you pat me! Get back down here, I'll bite your fucking-" I dropped down and slapped her hard across the face, the impact stinging my hand and her face. She yelped, her sentence cut off abruptly. I grappled her neck with my other hand and slammed the back of her head into the wall.

" _Listen up you fuzzy cunt_." I growled to her. " _I'm_ the Queen Bitch of this ship, you hear!? The only reason I _haven't_ given Nakadi carte-fucking-blanch to cook you in a _bloody stew_ , is because there is a slight... slight... _slight_ chance I'm going to need you in some dumbass capacity in the coming months." My fingernails dug into her neck, causing her to gasp and wimper. "So you sit-the-fuck there... you keep your whore-mouth _shut_ , or the next thing that's going into it will be a _grenade_. You said it yourself, I'm a _psychopath_." I eyed her up in down, what I could see of her face contorted into pain and sadness. "...you just don't know how bad of one yet." I released her neck, causing her head to roll downwards before she picked it back up. "If you talk out of turn one more time... I'm going to chop your tail off. Twice more, and it's your _tongue_. Fuckin' hear me?" She whimpered again. " _Answer me when I speak to you!_ "

"Y-yes! Yes, I understand!"

"Yes what!?"

"Y-y-yes... m-Mistress..." I nodded.

"That's much better." I turned to Nadaki and Yuzuki. "You ladies are my eyes and ears, you hear? If she speaks out of turn at all, you're to slap the shit out of her. If she says anything bad about me... well... just don't kill her, kay?" Yuzuki nodded vigorously, probably more afraid of my outburst then anything else.

"Y-yes, Mistress! Of course, Mistress! Anything you wish!" I laughed at her.

"Don't get yourself so high-strung, Yuzu." I winked to her. "I'm not mad at you." This only made her feel slightly better. I turned to leave. "Ai! I need a favor."


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

I spent the next few minutes going over what she could scan of the Gateway we were parked next to. She ran every kind of scan she could through it – Alpha-Wave, Subspace Echolocation... hell, she even X-Rayed the damn thing. She couldn't come up with much about it, except one little tidbit of information that was... less then helpful. "It's old." Was her simple, two-worded response when asked about it.

"That's it? 'It's old'? That's the best you can give me?"

"Captain, this technology – if it even _is_ technology – is well far and beyond the scope of anything the Protectorate can come up with. I could spend days speculating how it worked, and the best answer I could probably believably come up with is 'it's magic', which I know won't satisfy you. The stonework alone places it's date of creation at almost eight thousand years before the Protectorate's formation, at 7583 BP." You're probably wondering what all the YP and BP is on our dates... After the formation of the Terrane Protectorate a little over five hundred years ago, humanity had reset their calender and clocks to mark this 'advancement' in humanity. The Protectorate was formed in 2589 of the old calendar, a date we call Ascension Day. From that day on, the years took on the format of 'Year of the Protectorate', or simply as YP. Any time before YP 0 we simply refer to as the years of 'Before the Protectorate', or simply BP. That's well before even human _history_ has been recorded. This thing isn't just 'old'... it's probably more ancient they anything in the universe. "...so yes." Ai continued. "As it stands, unfortunately 'it's old' is – in fact – the best I can give you."

"Alright moving on then... do you know how to power it?"

"Uncertain. I see no external power outlets, so I doubt it would be as simple as jump-starting a car battery. I could, however, attempt to discharge a reverse Electro-Magnetic Pulse which may or may not deliver sufficient charge to activate the gate for some time. However, I do not have to go into detail what the reverse EMP would do to the surrounding wildlife." A pause. "Is there any alternative way to power the gate?"

"Well, I mean I could dig fifty kilometers to the planet's core and mine up some Core Shards, but _fuck that_ and the horse it rode in on. That's a lot of work for very little reward. I'd rather see if I can't just... power it up like this."

"The amount of static we'd be pumping into the atmosphere would be enough to ionize a fifteen kilometer cubed section of the planet's atmosphere. The end result would most likely be a thunderstorm of titanic proportions." Ai continued. I groaned.

"But that's a very far way down-"

"Captain, there are times where we can afford to be lazy. This, I do not believe, is one such time. The amount of damage we could do to the surrounding atmosphere with a reverse EM pulse could vastly outweigh the benefits of taking the lazy way out."

"I beg to differ. This planet's shit. What do you care? Are there any sentient creatures on it? Are we the only people here."

"..." She fell silent, which usually meant she was either checking my question, or didn't want to give me the answer because I was right.

"Scans reveal no higher brain functions within the Deep Wave Scanner's range. So, to answer your question, no."

"So that settles it. Start charging for a reverse EMP." I heard Ai sigh at my order.

"Confirmed, Captain. Reverse EM Charge complete in six hours..."

"Six hours? Why so long?"

"Reverse EM Charges draw directly from the ship's Erchius Reactor to generate the right bandwith of pulse. With our reactor in emergency mode, we cannot risk undue stress upon the reactor, so the pulse must be – to use a human term – 'trickle charged' to avoid potential damage or destruction of the ship." A pause as I facepalmed. "If we were in possession of a dynamo, I believe we may be able to power the gate, and not risk cataclysmic degredation of the planet's atmosphere."

"But we don't have a dynamo, do we?" I muttered. "And like hell I'm disassembling the engine... to..." I paused as a thought came back to me. Ghad, Lysylla, why are you such a poo-brain some times? "Hold that thought, Ai... I just remembered something. If I had the parts, could you provide the blueprint for a Dynamo?"

"Of course. The portable Dynamo is standard issue in all ship computers. For just such an occasion, as it stands. Why?" I took the Matter Manipulator from my the leather belt I had put on not too long ago (I had managed to jury rig a hook to attach to said belt to store the thing) and held it out. Most Matter Manipulators had a rudimentary wireless signal for syncing and updating remotely to and from ship Ais. Hypothetically...

"Could you upload the blueprints to my Manipulator?"

"Of course. One moment, Captain." There came the silence I had grown accustomed to when she was working, the little screen flashing a message that new schematics had been added to the system's harddrive. "I took the liberty to upload all known schematics to it while I was at it."

"Thaaaank you, Ai." I muttered, flipping through the thing's known schematics. Sure enough, there was the portable Dynamo, along with it's requirements. Looks like I had everything except the needed wire. "Damn, short on wires..." I started to walk towards one of the smaller storage lockers near the cargo hold, on the hunch that I left a few spare parts in there, just in case. Pulling on the door's handle, I threw it open and began to ransack the locker. "Mechanic jumpsuit from that time I snuck into Protectorate HQ to get laid by that hottie that one time... my old uniform from when I actually _wanted_ to join their little club... ah!" I fished out a rather ratty duffle bag filled to the brim with all forms of mechanical junk from various endevours I'd taken in the past. Swapping the Matter Manipulator over to deconstruct, I quickly broke the entire thing – duffel bag and all – into the harddrive, where the screen told me I had collected more then enough wires to do what I had planned. "Lysylla Schatternae, some days you amaze yourself." I mused to myself, smiling. "Alright, let's do the thing!"

I wasn't what one would call 'technically apt', usually choosing to leave all the technical mumbo-jumbo to Ai if it ever reared it's ugly head. But, hooking up a portable generator was something I could do. Clamp, clamp, button press and done... simplicity itself. The hard part would be finding out _where_ to do the clamp, clamping. "Captain-" Ai's voice broke my concentration, and caused me to jump, smacking the back of my head into the top of the console that I had opened.

"Gah!" I barked at the pain. "Fffffffuck!" Vigorously rubbing my head, I muttered a few more obscenities before taking a deep breath. "Yes, Ai?"

"Apologies, Captain, but I thought you'd like to know, I've detected faint power fluctuations coming from the large red wire to your left, and reciprocating signals from the black one on your right." I looked at the internal workings, and noted the two mentioned wires.

"Okay... what does that mean in english?" I continued, trying to translate her words.

"It is my best bet that the red wire is feeding power into the console from whatever is storing the power, and the black wire is back-feeding all unused power back into it's source." I shrugged.

"So red is positive, and black is negative?"

"In simple terms, yes." I nodded to this and picked up the two clamps – one in each hand – and took a deep breath.

"Uh... Ai?" I paused, not really wanting to try this, but it was all I had to go on. "If this backfires and kills me... don't set the self-destruct. If it kills me, transfer ownership to Yuzuki and Nakadi and... you know, disable their collars and whatnot."

"Rather generous of you, Captain."

"No it's not. I'm looking out for the most important woman in my life." She couldn't see the wink. "B'sides, I'm dumping you on them, so it's more of a curse then a blessing."

"Leave it to you to veil a compliment with an insult."

"It means I love you." I finished, placing the matching gator clamps onto the wires. The teeth bit into the thick insulating rubber around the wires, eventually coming to the core of them with ease. I stood and waited for a moment, hoping the whole thing wouldn't just spark and explode on me. After a moment of waiting, I was satisfied that I had done at least half of the job correctly, and I moved swiftly to the Dynamo. "Alright... YOLO... I guess."

"That's not funny." Ai responded crassly just as I turned the Dynamo on. With a lurch, the small portable generator turned over and began to run, the power feeding directly into the system. After a moment, the entire gateway lurched, small ice-blue veins appearing between the stonework. "Energy spike detected."

"Ha... haha!" I laughed a little at the realization. "Ancient alien technology, zero – Lysylla Schatternae, one! Suck it, Ancient Gateway! Laziness prevails!" The console situated before the archway hummed to life as the arch itself sparked and hummed, bolts of ice-blue electricity arching around it and consolidating in the middle of the arch, a swirling vortex of a portal appearing in the middle. As the portal stabilized, I watched as a structure appeared in the portal – like peering through a swirling, incorporeal window – with people moving around, gazing at the archway. "Ai-" I started. "Keep the generator running. If you loose my vitals, that's okay. Try to keep the communications channel open. I'm going in."

"I would bring one of the others with you, Captain. Just in case the locals prove... hostile."

"I don't think they will but... not a bad idea. Get Yuzuki out here."

"Confirmed." A beat. "Another transmission coming through the gateway, Captain." I nodded and chirped a little.

"Patch it through. Let's see what our mysterious benefactor has to say..."

" _You've powered up the gate... faster then I expected. Travel through the portal to the Outpost. It's a refuge for people like you... lost travelers who need a home. Travel through the Outpost towards the rear. There, you'll find a place ancient beyond all belief... we call it the Ark. Meet me in the Ark. I must speak to you._ " I paused.

"Alright. Let's go." At this point, the ship door opened and Yuzuki sprinted down the gangplank towards me.

"I'm sorry for the delay, Mistress. One of the girls struggled to get free... I had to restrain her again."

"Don't worry about i-" I paused. "-wait, someone tried to escape?"

"Yes, Mistress. Jessi thrashed a bit and-" She read the stupified look on my face. "The Human, sorry." I nodded, fully understanding now. "She struggled, and almost got free. I had to restrain her."

"Good on you." I nodded to her. "Alright, Yuzuki... I'm about to do something either incredibly stupid... or something that'll save our asses. I'm fully trusting you, now." She nodded.

"Of course, Mistress. How may I serve?" I took a small key – little more then a shard of metal shaped into a unique set of teeth – and reached around to the rear of her collar, pressing the key to the small indentations on the back, the bomb-collar popping off and dropping to the ground. Unhooking the Matter Manipulator from my belt, I stored the collar away. "Mistress?"

"We're about to go visit people, and I can't have you looking like a slave. As long as people can see us, you're to refer to me as 'Captain', not Mistress, got it?"

"Yes, Mistress." I nodded.

"Good girl. Alright, come on." Reattaching the Matter Manipulator, Yuzuki and I stood before the gate, I took a deep breath and stepped in. At first it felt as though I had stepped through a fine film of water – the surface of the gate rippling like the water of a pond that had a Felin-sized stone gently dropped into it. Yuzuki was right behind me as I exited the other side, the skybox above us as though we were standing on a moon of some kind. I took a deep breath. "Air... in space. Strange..."

"I've heard about this kind of phenomena, Captain-" Damn, that girl catches on quick. "-I believe it's called 'The Protector's Bubble'. I don't know the details, but some people believe that certain pocket dimensions do not abide by our physical laws."

"What's to say this is a pocket dimension?"

"Only explanation I can come to." Yuzuki shrugged. Well, to be honest, her guess was as good as mine, so 'pocket dimension' it was.

"Alright, let's get through and speak to whomever was talking to us." She nodded and filed in line directly behind me, keeping in step with me nicely. We passed a convienence store – oddly enough – just before the tall, stocky Outpost itself. People came and went, going about their business as we passed. I heard a few voices talking as we moved.

"Newcomers..." Some of them spoke.

"...look! A Matter Manipulator!" My hand instantly went over my Manipulator as someone noticed it. "She's with the Protectorate!"

"Scantly dressed for the Protectorate, don't you think?"

"...Felin... don't see many of them outside of the Travelers..."

"A Felin with a Hylotl in tow. She _has_ to be with the Protectorate! There's no other explanation." Yeah... just keep thinking that.

"Extrapolation. There is no other option it can be." Fuckin' Glitch.

We somehow managed to pass through the Outpost towards the rear, following a set of ancient stairs up... then back down. _Way_ down. Standing in the middle of a large stone structure was a bloody _massive_ stone depiction of the Cultivator's struggle with the Ruin. Well... I instantly knew what this was about. Before the statue was a large stone door that was shut fast with a depiction of a sun on the horizon, with seven little slots set into the stonework, between the rays of the sun. And there, in the dead center of the gate, was a woman in a hoverchair. I recognized her instantly.

She had a young, youthful face, despite the aged bags she had under her emerald eyes. Her gray hair was brushed neatly and cut into a rather short bob. She definitely looked like a woman who had seen much in her relatively short life. Her thin-rimmed glasses were balanced rather precariously on the tip of her nose, and a kind smile plastered about her lips. Esther Bright... former Grand Protector. _Shit_ I know as a _fact_ this woman knows who I am... it was her damn decree that put a bounty on my head three years ago. She left rather abruptly two years back... how'd she end up here? She smiled as we got closer, and I could see a great burden lifting off her shoulders. Thankfully... she doesn't know my face from Eve.

"Oh good... a Matter Manipulator. You're with the Terrane Protectorate, then." It was a reasonable conclusion – as many in the Outpost came to. "Tell me, girl. What's your name?" I couldn't tell her my actual name, on account she'd probably shoot me on sight. Though, maybe not. But I wasn't going to risk it.

"Risky Boots." I nodded to her, using an alias I only really used in polite conversation. She sighed happily and nodded.

"Risky. My name is Esther Bright; former Grand Protector of the Protectorate. I no doubt know you've been appraised – probably several versions of why – about my departure from the Protectorate, yes?" I gave her a nod and loosened my stance. She doesn't seem to be on to me. Thankfully, Yuzuki was staying very quiet.

"I've heard a few versions, but nothing anymore outlandish then the rest."

"It was a hard decision, I can tell you that. But... it wasn't one that I truly had a choice about. During my tenure as Grand Protector, I had heard many disturbing rumors... and as one thing lead to another... as each sign of an ancient prophecy began to come true... there was no true option save to leave, and try to find a way to avoid galactic destruction." Her chair turned to the statue behind her. "Tell me, Risky. Have you ever heard of the Cultivator and Ruin?"

"Stories, nothing more." I answered dismissively. "Something about the Cultivator being the being who created the universe, and how the Ruin aims to destroy it. They got into a scuffle, and the Cultivator won, just barely."

"All true... but only half of it." Esther continued where I left off. "The Cultivator wasn't able to _destroy_ the Ruin, only seal it away in an alternate dimension. _This_ alternate dimension." Yuzu called it. She turned to the bloody massive stone door to my left. "Behind this gate lies the Ruin itself. It has been sealed behind this gate for nearly ten thousand years... and in that time, the seals and bonds which keep it hidden and weak have begun to fade and weaken. I'm sure you've heard – if not seen first-hand – the destruction of Earth?"

"I was there." I nodded.

"The Ruin is now strong enough to manifest outside of it's prison for precious moments... and you've seen what happens when it is free for an _hour_. If the Ruin is ever truly freed from it's prison... well... the universe as we know it will end." She turned to face me. "The Cultivator – weakened and near death with his fight against the Ruin – used the last of his life force to create seven Artifacts of great power. Gifting them to seven major races, he left behind the means to unseal the Ruin from it's prison and either release it's terrible wrath upon the galaxy, or..." I didn't like the sound of that 'or'. "...or destroy it completely. Weakened as it is, it's possible for the Ruin to be completely destroyed... but first, it must be released."

"So... to kill it, we've got to open it's prison." Esther nodded.

"Yes. Which... is where you come in."

"Me? Why me?"

"Because, Risky... you're the last Protector in the galaxy... With the destruction of Earth... you and I are all that remains of the Terrane Protectorate... and with me, it is only in spirit. I can't scour the galaxy looking for these artifacts... but you can."

"W-wait a damn second here." I stopped her train of thought. "Esther I... can't go traipsing around the galaxy, looking for artifacts to destroy a planet-killing God, okay." She quirked her head at me, silently asking why. "I..." I blurted out a chuckle. "I don't even have a working ship right now. My FLT drive is shot, and it took all my SAIL's processing to land." It was a half-lie. It was true, my FTL drive was borked, but the true reason I couldn't... was I _wouldn't_.

"Ah, of course." She seemed relieved, believing my half-lie completely. "There's a man here; a one-legged man named Penguine Pete. He's crass and crude, but I know as a fact he has a line on one of the few functioning Erchius Mining Facilities on this side of the galaxy. Talk to him, and get the coordinates for the Mining Facility. I'm sure you can purchase a replacement Crystal from there." She hovered around a bit. "Once you do that, return to him and he'll have it installed at no extra charge. He's a good man, I trust you'll get a lot of help from him." A line on a fix for my FLT drive! Halle-fuckin'-lujah! With this, I could bug out and leave this whole Ruin business to someone with less of a reason to live then I.

"Alright." I nodded to her. "I'll talk to Pete, then." I left out the 'fix my ship and ttfn this shit' part. I wasn't gonna stick my neck out... not for anyone, and _certainly_ not for the god-damn Protectorate. I stuck around for a few more seconds, just to see if that was it. When she didn't start talking anymore, I simply turned and started towards this 'Penguin Pete' character to get my ship fixed.

"This is good news, Mistress!" Yuzu whispered to me when we were out of earshot. "You can fix your ship finally."

"It's a mixed blessing..." I mused, looking down at the Manipulator at my waist. "Yes, I can get my ship fixed, trust me I'm happy for that... but I can't risk him finding the others. If word gets out I'm not a member of the Protectorate... wooph, I'm in the shit."

"Don't worry. I can watch him as he fixes the ship, if you'd like." I glanced over to her and smiled, patting her head.

"That may or may not be necessary, but thanks for the offer anyway." We scaled the massive set of stairs once more, and Yuzu spoke once more once we crested them.

"So... are we actually going to do it?"

"Hm? Do what?"

"You know... kill the Ruin." I laughed loudly at this.

" _Fuck_ that." I answered back emphatically. "The Protectorate's never done me any favors, okay... and it sure as hell wasn't fixin' to do you any either. S'far as I'm concerned, it's not my problem." She fell quiet.

"Well..." She finally spoke up. "...don't misunderstand me, I'm not questioning you but... if it's left unchecked... doesn't that mean _everything_ will die?"

"Maybe. Or maybe Esther Bright-tits will find someone else to sucker into her shenanigans once she realizes I've peaced the fuck out." I shrugged. "C'mon, you know the cliché. A hero always shows up when they're needed, or some bullshit like that. Once we're a couple thousand lightyears from here, and she realizes I've left, she'll start lookin' for someone else."

"Have you considered that... you are that hero who showed up when she's needed?"

"No. I ain't no hero." I answered back. She huffed.

"Well I think you are!" This was unnaturally forceful for her. She whipped in front of me and stopped me from moving. "I think you can be a hero!" She sighed. "Look, Mistress... I'm not trying to step out of line, or assume but... this could be your big chance to turn your life around." I blinked at her.

"And why do you think that... no, scratch that... why do you think I would _want_ that?" I crossed my arms. "Sweetheart, push comes to shove, I don't care if I have to sell you to a tribe of cannibal Floran, I'm _getting_ some kind of money out of your asses one way or another. I trust you, Yuzuki... but you're still just a _slave_ to me. You're not my friend. You're not an 'alley'. You're a disposable asset. That's all. It'll take me time, but I just have to make some more connections, and I'll be back in business in probably two... maybe three years." I waved her off, walking around her. "Earth's destruction was just a minor set back." She raced to stand in front of me again.

"I know it's what you _need_ , because I know that deep down – past that ice-queen exterior you have..." She blinked. "...I know you're a good person." I paused, then blinked myself. Once. Twice... was... she serious?

"Ah-ha... hahahaha..." I chuckled sarcastically, which slowly turned into a full-blown guffaw in a few seconds. Before long, I was doubled over, holding my gut and laughing like a fat man drunk on wine.

"What?" She finally asked after a few seconds, her ignorance to her comment only making me laugh harder. "What!?" I finally managed to stop.

"Darlin', I'm _not_ a good person." I finally responded. "I've not _been_ a good person in _years_. I'm a _slaver_ , remember? I buy and sell _lives_ for a living, and I'm bloody damn good at it. I could sell you your own mother as a sex slave if the bug hit me. So I don't know where you got the idea that I'm a good person... but you're _lying_ to yourself if you think you see that in me. Because you don't. Because it _doesn't exist_."

"You're wrong! You know..." She persisted, standing up straight. "I can see it in your eyes! You _are_ a good person! You're just misunderstood! You took a wrong turn somewhere!"

"Yuzuki... you've done right by me up until now... so I'm only going to give you... sixty percent power." She recoiled a little at my comment.

"Sixty percent power? Wha-" She was interrupted by my hand slapping her hard in the face, the sudden action causing her to collapse to the ground. I must have hit her harder then I wanted, as the moment she dropped, I could hear her crying.

"Pick yourself up. Dry your fucking eyes, and don't say a god damn word as we walk out of here. If I even get the _hint_ you want to say something, I'm going to make sure the next one knocks your fucking head off." She nodded and picked herself up, drying her eyes on the back of her hands. "-And if you _ever_ speak out of turn again, a slap will be the _least_ painful punishment I visit upon you." My voice had a cold fury in it. I wasn't yelling, but the stern, smoldering tone was one I had to use often... and it got my message across perfectly. I was not... _not_ a good person. "And if you think I have to physically hit you to punish you... _ooooooh-ho_ you are in for a _hell_ of a surprise. You. Are. A. Slave. A useless piece of Hylotl meat with a high price tag, to the right person. Do you understand me? Speak." She held herself in some semblance of dignity, and nodded.

"Y-yes, Mistress. I understand completely, Mistress." I nodded to her.

"Good girl. Now c'mon. I've got a ship to fix." She fell quietly in line behind me as we continued towards the Outpost. I had noticed a one-legged man earlier, but just lumped him in with the rest of the riffraff. Upon arriving at the – for lack of better term – junkyard around the man, he piqued up and strode towards me. His right leg looked to be replaced with a... crowbar? Suppose I've seen wierder things. He opened his arms and laughed.

"And there she is! The savior in the flesh! Come! Come let us talk!" He was a loud, boysterous man, but he had the hallmarks of an experienced mechanic, so that was all I cared about. He snatched my hand – still burning from slapping Yuzuki – from my side and shook it vigorously. "Penguin Pete's the name, and wrecks are my game! If you're not interested in a car, or a 'Mech, then maybe I could interest you in a replacement Erchius Crystal?" His one good eye shined with the look of a man who knew far more then he needed to.

"Actually-" I started. "-that Erchius Crystal sounds nice. My ship was damaged in the escape from Earth, and I'm on conventional drive only right now."

"Girl, you are damn lucky you ended up where you did. Millions of planets in the galaxy, and only a handful of them have Gateways on them." I smiled.

"Well, guess I should buy a lottery ticket then, huh?" He laughed his loud, belly-splitting cacophony at my joke.

"That you should, m'girl! That you should! So-" He quieted down, his voice taking the tone of someone about to deliver bad news. "-normally, I would have a spare Crystal here for you, and would fix your ship up for a fee... but as it stands, I've not received any new Crystals in a few days. Now, I'm willing to fix your ship for free if you pay my supplier a visit and see what the holdup is, and bring me back a Crystal." I shrugged.

"Sounds agreeable. How do I get to your supplier? Are they around?"

"Sadly, no. Your ship got a working teleporter?" I internally shuddered.

"...yes... I don't have to use it, do I?"

"It's the fastest way. The mining facility is inaccessable via conventional drive."

"Greeeeeaaaaat." I rolled my eyes. "Fuckin' hate teleporting."

"Don't worry, it's perfectly safe."

"So is a bullet, until you use it in the wrong fashion." He laughed again at this.

"Don't be so glum, chum. Here..." He fished a small chip out of his pocket and handed it to me. "This is the facility's teleporter signature. Your ship's AI should be able to hijack it and get you there in one piece. Find me a good Crystal, see what the hold up is, and I fix your ship in return. Seems like a decent tradeoff, yeah?" I took the chip from his hands.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't get your eyepatch twisted waiting for me, though." He seemed to take that as a joke, and responded in kind. "I'll... see what I can do."

"S'all I ask, lass. S'all I ask." He paused, his good eye drifting a bit behind me. "Hey, is yer friend okay? She looks a little down..." I turned to see what he was looking at. "Not to mention that bit'a sun she caught on her cheek." _Holy shit_ I left a huge red mark on Yuzu's cheek. I played it off best I could.

"Yeah, we had some things to do outside – fix the gate, the like. I guess she caught more sun then I thought." I lifted a hand to her forehead, the stiffening of her body invisible to everyone but me, and played off like I was checking her for a fever. "She'll get plenty of rest, I think she's just tired." I patted her shoulder soothingly. "Don't you worry, I always take care of my crew." Pete nodded firmly to that.

"Good to hear! Though... can't help but question your choice in attire... Your friend looks more like a slave, then a member of the Protectorate."

"I-" Yuzu started up quietly. "I like loose fitting clothes..." She muttered. I was damn glad she spoke up... I hadn't the foggiest clue how I was going to answer that rather specific accusation.

"Fair 'nough!" He nodded. "Alright you two. Get to it." I nodded to him and started back out towards the portal, and my ship. Just past the convienence store near the portal, Yuzuki spoke up again.

"I'm sorry for speaking out of turn, Mistress..." She muttered. I lifted my hand up, which caused her to recoil, but her muscles relaxed when I only sat it on her head and ruffled her hair.

"You did good." I told her simply. Internally, I wasn't sorry for hitting her... but I was sorry I had to do it.

It was something I learned very early in this profession. When you buy and sell lives for a living, you have to come to a few very easy-to-swallow conclusions. The first, and biggest, is you're not a good person. Good people don't ruin lives to get by. The second is... you should never feel bad for punishing a slave. If they talk out of turn, or do something they shouldn't, _they_ made the conscious decision to act out, _they_ made the conscious decision to disobey. _They_ decided to be punished for you. Don't be sorry for having to forcibly put them back in line... but be sorry they made you do it. She was silent the rest of the way to the portal, and all the way back to the ship.

Once we were back on board, I fished the collar out of the Matter Manipulator. "I was going to let you keep this off... but I've changed my mind for now." Yuzu nodded.

"Of course, Mistress." She bowed a little as I snapped the collar back around her neck, the red light telling me it was primed. "Thank you for correcting me." I could hear the sadness in her voice as she spoke these words. Christ, whoever trained this one did a damn good job of it. I yawned as I installed the override chip into Ai's system.

"Coordinates received." She confirmed, the little digital cat girl on the screen smiling at me, her cute little red kimono a stark contrast to her very informal personality. "Will you be heading out now?"

"Nah." I answered with a shake in my head. "Think I'mma gonna catch a cat nap before heading out. Day's been fuckin' long." I paused. "Yuzuki!" I barked to her. She trotted over quickly and bowed before me.

"Yes, Mistress?" She answered without a pause. I looked at her, boring holes into her triple eyes as I studied her. She was thin, but naturally so. Her skin was a soft blue that seemed to be devoid of any marks, save for the bright, red hand print that was slowly appearing on her cheek. Plus side... since these slaves were _technically_ my property now...

"You're in luck. Despite what happened today-" I referenced her talking out of turn. "-I've come to the conclusion you were more helpful then detrimental." I saw a smile play at her lips. "So tonight, you get to be my bed warmer."

"B-bed warmer?" She stammered in a cute fashion that just was too damn adorable.

"Yeah. Bed warmer." I sighed. "Look, I'll be plain. I'm throwing you in bed and I'll rape you if I have to. I'm too horny to think up cute names for it." My meager bedroom was on the top deck of the ship – the _only_ room on the top deck – and was where I chose to spend my nights... and days when I didn't have anything to do. I took her arm and practically pulled her towards the elevator. Really, when you think about it, rape was more of the icing on the cake at this point...

Like I said. I'm _not_ a good person.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

I was up and about a few hours later, staring at the small screen on that usually displayed Ai's chosen digital form, my eyes endlessly searching readout after readout. No matter how I sliced it, there was no way to get around the terrifying experience of teleporting to the Erchius Facility... it just wasn't happening, not with my ship in this kind of disarray. "...dammit..." I mumbled, glaring daggers at the screen.

"Staring it down won't change things, Captain." Ai mused to me.

"I fuckin' know... I'm just not looking forward to it at all." I responded with a despondent sigh. I pushed off the wall – resigned to my psuedo-fate – and gave a nod. "Well, guess no sense putting it off, huh?"

"Before you go, Captain, it might be worth noting we have no idea what might be waiting for you. I would suggest arming yourself before leaving." The little panel beside the console slid open to reveal a small holdout pistol I kept in extreme emergencies. I may not have been a fighter, but I knew which end of the gun the shots came out of, so I wasn't completely inept. It was a small gun – bought off a black-market weapons dealer who had the serial number scrubbed off for me – with a three-inch long barrel and a tiny charge pack. I think I remember the guy saying it would only be able to fire three, maybe four times before the charge pack was depleted, but it would regenerate pretty quickly. "Do you require an instruction manual?" Ai asked when she noted me studying the gun.

"You're fuckin' funny." I responded, tucking the gun into the waistband of my panties. "Just keep an eye on me through the scanner, and pull me out if it gets too hot. I'd much rather be laid up in bed for a week with a broke-ass ship then risk getting killed to fix it."

"Confirmed." A beep. "I've tied your vitals into the ship's teleporter. If they drop to a critical level, you will be instantly transported back here." I may not have liked teleporting... but I liked dying even less. I nodded to Ai and took a deep breath, and stood on the teleporter pad.

"Alright, Ai. Keep the girls in the cargo hold-" I could get away with calling it what it was out here. "-and if I'm gone too long and people start bitchin' about being hungry, send Nakadi out to hunt again. She seems rather keen on it."

"Yes, Captain. And..." She paused. "Do be careful." I smiled a little at her concern.

"Don't you worry, Ai. I'll always come back to you."

"Engaging Teleportation." She didn't even bother acknowledging my comment... typical Ai. The pad below me lit with a soft amber as it engaged, my body feeling suddenly lighter then air for a second as my vision was consumed with a bright yellow light. Really, the worst part about teleportation was how _bloody cold_ it got while you were in transit. It... felt really strange. Like, you could see into forever... but it was like one of those old-world first-person games where if you looked down, all you saw was air. It was like that. I could _feel_ my body, but I couldn't for the fuckin' life of me see it.

And just about as fast as it started, it was over. I found myself standing in a dark metal room with a teleportation pad below my feet. I took a deep breath to fight off the chills I had, and instantly regretted it. The next thing to leave my mouth was a hoarse, rasped cough. "Wha' th' fuck...?" I choked out. "Can't... hardly breathe..."

" _Captain..._ " Ai's voice came over my radio, I reached to answer it. " _...don't respond. Don't talk, don't do much of anything. Scans indicate life-support has been cut off to this section. I estimate you have around three minutes of air, before you suffocate. I've located the local-area shunt for life-support. It's close. I recommend moving quick. Out the door before you and take the left path down the hall. At the far end will be an open door. Enter it and the life-support shunt is in there._ " I nodded to her and slowly walked out of the room. I did my best to control my breathing, taking slow, long breaths as I moved. I would hold each breath for a few seconds before releasing it, just to get the most out of each one. Why would they shut off life-support? What would they hope to accomplish? The floor was _cold_ on my otherwise bare feet... shit, should have put some damn shoes on... I moved with a relative quickness, but not so much as to chew through too much of the already dwindling air supply. Slipping through the open door, I found two things of interest. The first, was the life-support shunt on the back wall, it's panel open and the switch thrown into the 'off' position. Beside the main switch were two smaller switches that referenced other areas of the station. The large one was labeled 'Reception and Sales' while the other two were 'Miner's Quarters' and 'Mine'.

The second interesting thing I found would be a corpse lying against the wall under the shunt. It was wearing a high-visibility vest and a durasteel mining helmet, complete with light and shatter-proof face shield. I believe at one point the corpse was human, but it's skin was so bloated and pink (not the normal, healthy pink you'd associate with a human's 'natural' complexion, but a bright, almost cartoonish pink) that it was almost impossible to distinquish. It's eyes were shut and it's chest had stopped moving... it was probably dead. I opened my mouth to ask a rhetorical question, but quickly remembered my rapidly diminishing air supply.

" _Captain, it seems the station only has enough power to keep one area oxygenated at a time. I am currently detecting seven life signatures – all human – in the Miner's Quarters below us. I believe the life-support was diverted there._ " Oh, well, that's a simple solution then, isn't it? Without a second thought, I switched over the Miner's Quarters shunt to 'off', and the Reception and Sales one to 'on'. " _Captain, if you shut off life-support to the Miner's Quarters, all seven humans will be killed within minutes._ " The lights clicked back on and the fans began to turn, the droll hum of air flowing through the station. I took a deep breath of the newly flowing air.

"I know they will." I mused, slamming the shunt panel closed. "With any luck, they'll be dead before I get down to that level, so I won't have to deal with the pleading." I shrugged. "B'sides, what's the difference between 'they're were dead when I arrived' and 'no survivors'?" I grinned as I answered my own question. "They both get the same point across, and only one's a lie." Ai fell silent. "Look, Ai, you can sit here and argue semantics with me, or you can realize there's _no other option_ right now. If I want to do what I need to do, there has to be sacrifices. Seven of them, to be exact." She silently agreed with me and allowed me to continue on my way. I turned to leave the breaker room only to have a sharp moan assault my ears. "Jesus fuck what is that?" Turning around, I watched the corpse – or what I previously thought to be a corpse – moan and stand to a lumbering six foot eleven inch height. I noticed that under it was lying a massive miner's sledge hammer, usually used to dislodge otherwise stubborn formations of ore or – in this case – Crystalline Erchius formations. But for now? In this thing's hands... it was a weapon. I didn't bother asking what I should do, the answer was right in front of me. Taking the pistol in my waistband into a shaking hand, I pointed it towards the hulking brute and fired three shots. Each blast struck the beast in the chest, it's skin seeming to ripple with the impact. The semi-solid slugs formed no holes as they burrowed inside, only a slight sizzling sound assailed my ears. Wrapping a nearly tentacle-like arm around the hammer, it rose it over it's head with impossible strength before trying to bring it down on my head.

My right food tried to clip through my left, which caused me to stumble and fall backwards... which as the hammer came crashing down right onto the metal where I was standing not a few seconds ago I found to be a blessing of the highest caliber. I managed to pick myself up and take a few hops backwards, assessing the beast best I could, as the pistol recharged. Once the small indicator light turned green, I let loose a second barrage of gunfire. This trio of shots also found homes in it's gelatenous body, causing nothing more then a ripple – as though I had dropped a pebble into a river. I quickly scanned it with my eyes... this thing had to have some kind of visible weakness... something I could use to exploit and kill it. _Everything_ had a weakness, be it physical or metaphysical... there was always something to exploit. It's grip on it's hammer tightened as it lumbered towards me, lifting the great weight over it's head effortlessly. As though it were a feather, I swung the hammerhead around in a horizontal cleave, nearly catching me in the side, had I not struggled to put some distance between us.

I felt the rush of air waft by my face as the hammer missed me by mere inches. As if enraged by my constant dodging, the creature barked a rough roar into my face, it's mouth hanging agape to show a pink crystal inside, as though it had choked on an Erchius Crystal. Quickly bringing the pistol up, I fired another trio of shots, the first two peppering it's face, while the third and final struck the crystal and shattered it. I watched as the collection of pink goo that was it's body suddenly turn liquid and fall to the ground. _My_ reaction was just about as instantaneous. I barely had time to turn my head before my gag reflex failed and what remained of my last meal in my stomach was clawing it's way up my throat and spilling out over the deck.

" _Captain, are you alright?_ " I fought hard to think up a snarky response to Ai's question, but the only thing that came out was the truth.

"I just watched the thing _melt_. You tell me, Ai... F-fffheck..." I stayed doubled over, hands on my knees, as the last of my stomach's contents purged themselves on the floor. _Fuck_ that was damn gross. After a moment, my diaphram stopped spazzing out so I could actually continue with this stupid-ass suicide mission of mine. Spitting the last of whatever was in my mouth out to the floor, I quickly quit the hallway I was in. I hope that was the last one of those ugly-ass things I'd have to meet...

"...gonna be tasting that for a while..." I muttered as I came to a door which read 'EMPLOYEES ONLY' in big, bold lettering on a gunmetal plaque bolted fast to the door. I saw no handles, but a small panel on the right-hand side did tell me that it was designed to be used with either a card, or some kind of code. I pressed one of the buttons on the panel and waited... nothing.

" _Life support aside, all power seems to have been re-routed to the lower levels of the mine... Captain... I'm detecting more Chaotic Erchius readings from the lower levels... it seems that previous one was not the only one._ "

"Great." I rolled my eyes. "I need to get to the lower levels for that Crystal. Can you plot me a path?"

" _Confirmed. You will have to take the service elevator down... however, it is jammed on the lowest level, and-_ "

"Lemme guess... the power's out." I interrupted her with a heavy sigh.

" _That would be correct, Captain. I am, however, checking the inventory manifest of the facility, and have concluded that it does contain several HazEnv suits, as well as repelling gear in the crew quarters Armory, which is not too far from your current location. I would advice acquiring both a suit, and repelling gear, in preparation for your descent._ " Well, on the plus side... if this little adventure of mine got me nothing more... it's netting me some pretty neat toys. A Matter Manipulator... and now some repelling equipment and a HazEnv Suit. Ai directed me to the crew quarters armor on this level, which proved to be jut a few turns away. Down another corridor, I saw signs of a struggle, pink and red smears coating the walls and floors of the hallway.

"U-ugh..." I groaned, looking around the room, noting that was much more red then pink on the walls... and what pink there was on the walls, it appeared to be more of a... splatter then a smear? If that makes any sense? Like it was launched as a projectile, not splattered like blood. I took a step forward, my toe kicking something at my feet. "Augh! Ffffuck!" I growled at the spike of pain from kicking something metal. "Sonuvabitch... mmmm!" I growled, looking down at what I kicked. "Is this a-" It was. Dipping down, I picked up the assault rifle that had been discarded by some poor sod, and checked the weapon over. It was in good condition, and it's charge pack was full. "Alright... take two."

Like I mentioned earlier, I'm not a fighter. If some lanky bitch comes at me with a stick, I'm probably going to lose that fight instantly... but that doesn't mean that I can't fire a gun. If it's strange human/Erchius hybrids that don't have any weapons, I can play keep away with them all day. I just hope this particular weapon serves _me_ better then whatever poor sod owned it previously. Tucking it close to my chest, I continued on my way.

" _I see you've acquired a better weapon, Captain. My scans indicate that that particular weapon is a cast-off assault rifle sold to all Lethia LLC employees. To say it is a poor excuse for a weapon would be an understatement._ "

"True..." I responded with a nod. "But considering this stupid little hold out pistol is a cast off of a cast off, it's got to be better, right?"

" _True. Just do keep your eyes open for better equipment._ " Lethia LLC... the scumbag of the universe. They were the quintessential big-government business conglomerate that dealt in everything from Erchius-powered FTL engines, all the way down to varieties of weapons and armor. Before they were shut down, the United Systems Colonial Marines were funded and trained primarily by Lethia LLC, and because they were provided most of Lethia's _good_ equipment, they were often bribed to be Lethia's 'enforcement' branch, sent to 'enforce' Lethia's rather loose corporate standards and protect the two most important things to them: Their pixels and their equipment... which would cost more money to replace. Yeah, they're paragons of human decency. A lot of people thought Lethia went under a few years ago, but that's just something the Terrane Protectorate told people, because Lethia was supplying them with equipment for a while, and it caused this huge spat between the TP and pretty much everyone else in the universe.

Shit weapon or not, it was better then nothing, so tucking it to my chest, making sure the safety was off, I pushed forward, trying not to think that the red covering the walls was probably human blood. " _Take your next left._ " Ai told me, causing me to turn and open a heavy, if not rusted, iron door which had it's lock shot off in a hurry. I scanned the room, looking at everything I could find. It was a standard armory; lockers lining both left and right walls, with a long rack of weapons (or what _would_ have been weapons) monopolizing the back wall. A few free-standing lockers were set in the middle of the room with benches in front of them. One look at the locker room would tell me that hardly no one had a chance to get here. Aside form the blown lock, only one locker was showing any sign of damage, the door torn off it's hinges and tossed to the side. The red inside told me that someone tired to hide inside the locker, and were about as successful as you'd imagine.

"All the weapons have been taken..." I wasn't surprised at this fact, just more miffed then anything else. I scanned the room, hoping to find the hazardous environment suit that Ai mentioned. "Where are you...?" I really hated clashing my style, but if it would help me survive here, I'll take a hit to my Fashion Score.

" _I'm detecting several functioning suits within assorted lockers, and one set of repelling gear in a crate near the rear of the room._ " Ai helped me narrow the search down a little. I took the handle of one locker and pulled. Locked. I moved on the the next, giving it an equally firm tug. Also locked. To make a boring, slightly comedy-sketch-like story short, every locker seemed to be locked... I don't know why I expected any different, they're called 'lockers' not 'unlockers'.

"Alright, fuck the quiet approach." I took a step back and shouldered the assault rifle before firing a single shot into the handle, blowing a hole in the cheap steel locker. Careful not to cut or burn myself on the now jagged, heated metal, I pulled the locker open. I had expected to see a bright-yellow suit with the large, bullet-proof glass hood... you know, what you'd expect to see as a HazMat suit. Instead, I was greeted by a somewhat thick black metal collar with a few triangle-shaped bits that were mounted onto elastic bands. "D'fuck is this?" I asked rhetorically to Ai, picking up one of the collars.

" _An experimental Enviornmental Protection Suit designed by the Disavow Corporation to replace the large, bulky, back-mounted units. According to my records, it creates a barrier of ionized air around your body that provides pressurization as well as a breathable atmosphere, without the use of bulky equipment. According to my records, the suit can be worn almost all day without it interfering with any of your daily activities, including bathing, eating and sleeping._ " I blinked. Okay... now _that_ was cool. I put the gun in the locker and held the collar with both hands.

"How does it work...?"

" _One moment. Accessing Disavow Corporate Records._ " Did I mention Ai was programmed with pretty much every record of every major corporation in the universe, so I had a veritable wealth of information to go off of. " _Place the collar around your neck, and the two smaller bands on your upper arm, over your shoulder. The larger bands wrap around your upper legs – the plates attached to your thighs. The leg sections and arm sections sync with the collar, and create the barrier of ionized air between them, covering your body._ " I nodded.

"Okay... let's see here..." I slipped the collar around my neck and closed it with a click. It wasn't what I'd call comfortable, but it was _certainly_ a lot more comfortable then the bomb collars Yuzuki and all them had to wear. Slipping the arm bands around my arm and pulling them all the way up – so that the elastic was in my arm pit – I kept my eyes and ears open, just in case one of those freaks showed up. Next, was the leg sections. Like the arm bands, the leg bands were pulled all the way up my legs – the elastic setting in my groin between my torso and thigh – the whole set up seeming to lock in place. There came the sound of something powering up around me neck and after a second, the stale, recycled air of the mining facility was replaced by the scent of fresh, clean air. I couldn't seen the barrier around my body but... I could feel it... the short fur on my arms and legs stood just a bit up and my skin tingled with the suit. "Okay now... this is cool..." I chuckled to myself, looking the system over.

" _Captain, it would be in your best interest to admire your newly acquired assets at a later time, when you are not in danger. I would recommend finding and equipping the repelling gear at your earliest convienece._ " I stuck my tongue out at Ai.

"Fun Nazi." I mused, turning to the crate near the rear Ai mentioned earlier. After searching for a moment to see if I could open it, I eventually just settled on smashing the decaying wooden lid open with the butt of the gun. You know... I keep forgetting I've got a Matter Manipulator... huh... go your whole life without something... Within the crate was a single piece of equipment for climbing or rapelling, a body harness with full back, chest, and leg support. The only difference between this and more 'archaic' versions, is this one had a reel – about a foot and a half in diameter – mounted flat against it's back, and a long glove on the right hand, that ended in a whole-hand rope brake.

" _Do you require assistance putting this on, Captain?_ "

"I've gone rock climbing before..." I muttered. "Can't be too much different." I wasted no time in dressing in the lightweight, but noticable equipment. The glove seemed to be a feed mechanism for the grappling hook, and the hand had a brake installed in it... neat, I didn't need any extra equipment to use this. Donning it like I had done it a thousand times already, I made sure everything fit perfectly before looking myself over in the broken mirror. "You know, I'm not one for the tomb raider look but... this matches my outfit quite nicely." Ai didn't deign to answer my statement, instead just kept quiet. Huh... at least I know how to keep her quiet for some time. Looking at the grappling hook mounted under my right wrist, I played with it for a bit, just to see how it worked. Apparently, just pulling it out of it's sheathe would cause it to expand to it's full size. After that, it was just a matter of attaching it to something and control-falling where I needed to go. "Alright, Ai, where's this elevator?"

" _Down the hallway you came from, six doors down on the right. You may need to manually override the control panel._ " Most Lethia equipment was easy enough to override... they didn't spend much money in cyber security, loathsomely enough. With my new gear donned and ready for whatever this place had in store for me, I tucked the rifle to my chest and made my way down.

The farther down I got, the more spastic the lights became, as though the power grid was still failing this far down. I squinted as I moved – cautiously – down the hallway towards my destination. I was still giddy like a schoolgirl that I didn't have to breathe that stale, stagnant air that permeated the facility. My musings took me straight to the elevator in question, which went from the facility level, all the way down to the mines, and eventually the Miner's Quarters. I knew as a fact, the mines were only partially oxygenated, enough to let people work, but they didn't waste gravity or much pressure keeping things comfortable here. Typical Lethia... maximize production and profit... without maximizing worker health and safety.

" _There's the elevator._ " Ai's voice came to me again, the double doors on my right signalling the path down to my objective. " _If you've been skimping on your exercises, then I would advise tripping the explosive bolts to blow the door off. Though, a warning. Destroying to door will explosively decompress the Sales and Reception area._ "

"Not like I care. It'll be a good chance to test out this EPP." I touched the collar on my neck to make sure it was still there. Satisfied it hadn't disappeared strangely, I turned back to the door. "And why waste time with bolts?" The Matter Manipulator came off my belt and was pointed at the elevator door. "...when I can just do this?" I clicked the trigger while pointing at the door, expecting the door to fizzle into a cloud of digital code and be stored in the Manipulator. Instead, what I got was a flashing red 'ERROR' message on the screen. Quirking an eyebrow, I looked at the screen and read it. "H-hey, Ai? Check the Protectorate Database and tell me what a 5-99 Error is..." While she did that, I tried to take the door off it's tracks once more.

" _5-99 Error. Category: Matter Manipulator. Cause of error: GeeZo-class Glepnir Shield is in use on the premises. Matter Manipulator cannot penetrate GeeZo-Class Glepnir Sheild._ " I rolled my eyes and sighed heavily.

"Yer fuckin' shittin' me."

" _I only read what you wanted._ " I sighed once more, going to the control panel after re-stashing the Manipulator on my belt.

"Bolts it is, then!" I announced loudly, prying the small panel off the wall with my claws, exposing the access panel beneath. There was a small lever which read 'E-Bolts' over it, and two small buttons on the side of it.

" _To prime the E-Bolts, you must slide the lever all the way to the bottom, then press the top button. Once the bottom button turns green, you can press it next. Caution should be advised, as the E-Bolts could back-feed, and blow the door inwards towards you. I would advice seeking cover before hitting the second button._ " I knew these damn explosive bolts were notorious for killing people by blowing inward when they're supposed to blow outward, so her warning was not unwelcome. Unnecessary, but not unwelcome. Doing as instructed, I quickly yanked the lever down and pressed the first button as it turned green. After a few seconds, the second button clicked over from red to green as well. Ducking so I was well behind the wall, I placed a finger over the button and pressed it. Quickly following a charge sound, the elevator door exploded inward, slamming into the rear wall with enough force to temper Durasteel. Looks like Lethia _really_ skimped on safety. " _Oxygen is draining from the Sales and Reception area to the mine below. Ambient pressure is approximately one third Earth's atmsophere. You would be suffocating without that suit._ " I could feel lit, the ionized barrier around me becoming – heavier, I suppose is the right word? - as the pressure dramatically shifted.

"Alright-" At least the suit let me continue to talk when I otherwise couldn't. Slipping the grappling hook from it's sheath on my right wrist, I looked around for a place to anchor it. The hook itself was an adaptable kind... the one where it could either be a hook, claw or anchor, adapting to what you need.

" _Captain, I detect you will have just enough cable to reach the bottom of the elevator shaft. You should anchor the hook somewhere close, to maximize the amount of cable you have._ " I know Ai's just trying to help but... man, she's talking a lot more then usual.

"You're being awefully chatty, Ai. You're not usually this chatty." I told her, tossing the hook onto the ground at my feet. Instantly, it deployed into a four-pronged hook and burrowed into the durasteel floor like a steel drill through dirt. Turning around, I dropped off the ledge – rope in hand – and began my descent.

" _I am simply attempting to guide you through your heroics. This is very unlike you._ "

"Hey now... let's not jump to conclusions. There's nothing 'heroic' about this, okay? I'm doing this to fix my ship and get mobile again. There ain't nothin' 'heroic' about that."

" _Of course. We also cannot forget the... four... five... six counts of murder._ " I chuckled at her.

"Yep, can't forget those, either. Remember Ai. 'No survivors'." I told her to remember her only half-lie. W-wait... wasn't there seven before? I mentally shook the thought out of my head, it wasn't important right now... she could have been counting the Erchius freak in that count, I don't know. The trip down was slow going, the cable slowly reeling out with each step I took down the wall, the brake on my hand keeping my pace consistant, but not too fast.

"H-hello! Hello up there!" I heard a voice call from far below me, echoing off the durasteel elevator shaft. It was female, but strong. "Are you friendly!?" Pausing mid stride, I looked down to see a faint nearly-human shape at the far bottom of the shaft looking up at me. "I heard the door blow, and thought it was a rescue team! How many of you are there!" Without asnwering, I faced forward.

"Ai... I thought you said there were no survivors."

" _I am apparently incorrect. I'm detecting an EPP around the woman's neck as well. Apparently, you are not the only one who has one. My suggestion is to play it off._ "

"Fine fuckin' suggestion, Ai! She's a liability!"

" _Then kill her._ " I shook my head, eyes wide.

"What!? Ai, that's-"

" _-Asking too much? Your options are this, Captain: you can either work with her, and explain away what happened to her friends, or you can dispose of her._ " Gotta leave it to Ai to break everything down into a binary choice...

"Fine fine fine..." I grumbled, closing the channel to her.

"H-hello?! Can you hear me up there!"

"H-hey!" I called back, with a smile. "Hey, are you okay down there!" I heard her sigh in relief from here. I continued on my descent.

"I'm fine but... I think everyone else is dead!" A pause. "I... I told them to keep the EPP's close but... they didn't listen!" She continued to ramble as I got closer, eventually able to dislodge the hook with a flick of my wrist and drop the rest of the way down. When I stood fully from the landing, I came face-to-face with a blonde-haired human woman with deep pink eyes. "You're... dressed rather scantly, don't you think?" I shrugged to her comment.

"I like being free. Sue me." I shrugged.

"O-oh no! Please don't misunderstand my comment! It's just... are you military? Protectorate?"

"Protectorate?" Shit, think... "Y-yeah... My name's Risky Boots, Terrane Protectorate." Keeping the lies consistent is always a good choice. Her smile brightened.

"Oh thank God!" She clasped both hands together and smiled. "You're just in time, Risky! I... don't know how to explain this but... there's a... giant living Erchius Crystal at the bottom of this mine." I blinked. Once... twice... three times...

"A... giant... living... Erchius Crystal?" She nodded firmly, like it didn't make her sound crazy.

"Yes. You and your assault force need to get a message out. Lethia Corp shut our outbound communications off a month ago after we uncovered it, and we've not been able to get a message out since."

"W-wait... this thing's been out for a _month_?" She nodded. "How have you survived so long?"

"Lethia Corp had us stocked with six months of rations for our two hundred and fifty man crew... everyone but we seven were killed instantly. The rest of them had been holed up in the Miner's Barracks, going out only to bring back more supplies... but... I guess the power finally failed? I went back after collecting more food and... everyone had suffocated..." Good... good, she thinks it was a power failure. I looked her over, noticing a familiar black collar just under her golden hair, and familiar objects on her upper arms and thighs. She was also wearing a similar EPP to me. "I see you've got one of the new M2's that came in a few weeks before the assault."

"Y-yeah, I found it in the upper decks. Barely had time to get it on before I suffocated."

"And the rest of your force?"

"What 'rest'?" She blinked.

"It's... just you?" I nodded. "You... you can't hope to destroy this Horror by yourself! We've tried! Explosives, rockets, bullets, lasers... nothing has any effect! The only thing we've found that does is the mine's Heavy Excavation Laser... and that takes five people to operate with any efficiency!"

"I mean... do we _have_ to kill it? Can't we just... grab a few crystals and skidaddle?"

"'Grab a few crys-" She looked at me in disbelief. "N-no, we can't just 'grab a few' and run! That damn thing is giving off some kind of emission that's blocking our ability to teleport in and out of the facility... come to think of it, how did you get here?"

"Getting in was easy. I guess getting out is harder, huh?"

"You have to call in reinforcements! We'll need at least three more people if we want to have a chance at-"

"There is no 'reinforcements', girl." I decided to put it bluntly. "It's _just me_. I was sent by Penguin Pete to find out what happened to his shipment, and get him a crystal to fix my ship. Hell, I didn't even know this place _existed_ until about six hours ago."

"The damn pirate, of course! All that sonuvabitch cares about is his shipment! Look, I'll get you your crystal, I swear... but you _have_ to help me kill that damn Horror! I know we're just a bum-fuck-nowhere mining facility, but a lot of my friends _died_ when it was released. I want..." A pause. "...no... I _need_ to give the closure! Please." She practically begged me.

"Alright, look. I'll help you kill the damn thing. You said there was a mining laser, right?"

"It's actually a Type XV Heavy Excavation Laser, used to vaporize rock and-"

" _It mines Crystals_." I told her forcibly. "It's a mining laser." I told her firmly, causing her to sigh, and nod. "Okay, _why_ does it require five people?"

"The laser has four breakers connected to the station's reactor. They're designed to trip in the event that there's not enough power to power the laser. Now... I've done the math, and I can probably eek enough power from the station's reactor – even in it's state – to power the laser long enough to kill it... but it's spitting out those Erchius Abominations like a machine gun spits out bullets. We need five people to keep the breakers from tripping, in the event I'm wrong. Or we could jam them..." She shook her head, as if getting back on track. "Not important. If you could keep the Abominations off me... I think we can actually do this. We have to trip all four breakers and keep them on until the laser has enough charge to fire... then we just have to survive until the laser does it's job."

"Is this thing mobile?" She shook her head.

"No! No, thankfully. It's set about halfway into a stone wall. It woke up once it was exposed to air, and took over the facility almost instantly. Don't worry, though, it can't move, and if we work quickly, I'm sure we can destroy it permanently." A pause. "By the way, I know you didn't ask but... my name's Emma. Emma Windsor." She sighed. "Can't wait to get out of here, and go back home. I'm quitting this job and going back to work for my dad. Maybe visit Earth, you know?" She had been here for a month... she wouldn't know. I... don't have to tell her, do I? No... I won't spoil her fantasy.

"Alright fine, you've convinced me. Let's... kill this thing, _then_ get out of here."

"Okay... sounds good. Here, follow me, I'll take you to it. If we're careful, we can avoid the majority of the transformed workers... if there's nothing in the vacinity to attack, they just kind of... shut down? I guess... it's like they fall asleep. If you get too close, they'll wake up." Knew about that all too well.

"How many of the things are there?"

"There were two hundred and fifty people in this mine before we uncovered that Horror. Now there's _one_. Sans the poor sods who died in the power failure, do the math." That really was not a comforting number. We were looking at swarm numbers of the things, and if they all attacked us at once... we _were_ dead. So... quiet does it.

She was definitely versed in how to move about these things without disturbing them. She kept at least a ten foot distance between any one abomination, and her footsteps were so light I barely thought she was moving.

"You're pretty quick and quiet..." I muttered in a low tone to her, careful not to wake the babies.

"Yeah... I've learned a lot in the last month..." She responded in a nearly inaudible tone. "You're not bad yourself... do a lot of sneaking around in your line of work?" I shrugged, and before I could realize what I was saying, I answered.

"Yeah, it's a thing I have to do." She giggled at – what I could only imagine she thought it was – my joke before we came to a check in station, with a big 'EMPLOYEES ONLY' sign over the door.

"C'mon, we gotta squeeze over the bag scanner." It looked like one of those airport queue lines, a tall pod with a through-fare standing beside a belted x-ray scanner for scanning carry on bags. I watched her hoist herself up onto the conveyor belt and then crawl over the machine to slip out on the other side. Following her example, I grunted as I climbed up.

"Take it we can't just walk through there, right?" I nudged my head to the scanner.

"No. It's on automatic, and with as much metal as we've got on, we'll trigger it in a heartbeat. It'll set an alarm off, and all these pink bastards will wake up."

"Figured..." I grunted, setting a foot on the conveyor belt.

"You're pretty limber." She complimented me.

"Thanks... you're not bad yourself." She sighed.

"Trust me, I wasn't always like this..." She pushed open the door at the end and stepped in. "The thing's just this way. Once we're through the decontamination process, we'll be at the thing proper. Just... be careful, okay? It's not friendly."

"I didn't think we'd be trying to kill it if it were." She nodded gently, holding the door open for me. Squeezing in right beside her, I found myself in a small decontamination chamber – like one you might see in a military checkpoint, or the like. It was clearly not designed to hold two people, as we found ourselves uncomfortably close.

"Sorry... it's a small room." I shrugged best I could.

"Doesn't bother me none." I answered, my chest pressed almost flat against her back. That wasn't a lie, being this close to a pretty girl was always one of my favorite ways to spend an evening, but two major factors stopped it from being anything more then a line on my resume. The first factor was the overwhelming sense of dread and death we both felt, about to go kill a giant, sentient Erchius Crystal... but there was also something nagging at me from the back of my head.

This kid thought I was TP. She thought I was some gallant hero riding in on a white steed to save her, to deliver justice to her comrades and spirit her away from this hell-hole when it was all said and done. The truth couldn't be farther from her belief. I _shouldn't_ be helping her... hell, she shouldn't have even been _alive_ right now... daft bitch should have suffocated like the rest of them. But that was neither here nor there. I couldn't just let her walk out of here... and I certainly couldn't take her back with me. The fast answer would be just to leave her here and get out when everything was said and done but... that could backfire on me if someone else happened across her between then and now, and rescued her. Who knows? Maybe this damn thing will kill her and save me the headache.

With a cheery ding, the door across from us opened to reveal a large, well-lit cavern with a feel of incompleteness. Unlike the rest of the mine – which had been donned in supports and struts, as well as proper flooring, this place looked rough and unfinished, the rough stone walls supporting little more then temporary lights and sensors of many makes and models. Oh, yeah... and also a giant Erchius Crystal that was the size of a starship. It's half-buried form must have been a football field long and at least half as wide. What was exposed appeared to be a diamond-shaped Erchius crystal with a huge chasm cut out of the center, out of which a single eye glared daggers at us. The crystal shuddered and released a phantom shriek – both inaudible and deafening at the same time – as it spotted us. I noticed four breakers along the sides of the room – spaced a good distance apart – along with the bulky form of the mining laser near us.

"It knows we're here-" She stated the obvious. "Grab the right two breakers, I'll grab the left. If they trip, you'll have to restart them. We need to be fast."

"Why do we need to be fast? You said it wasn't mobile, so we can just take our-" My asinine statement was interrupted by a pink laser of pure Erchius blasting forth from the creature and penetrating about six inches into the wall next to me. "Shit shit shit!" I recoiled, ducking for cover behind the laser's control console. " _You didn't say it could shoot fucking lasers!_ "

"Would you have come?!" She retorted, throwing one breaker on the left side of the room.

" _FUCK NO!_ " I responded before taking a deep breath and launching myself out of cover towards the right-side breakers. Thankfully, it's attack was telegraphed pretty heavily, a pink tracer of energy highlighting it's path before it took it, so it made dodging much easier. Reaching the first breaker, I took a firm hold of the heavy toggle switch and yanked it down, the red light above it turning blue.

"That's two! Two left!" I turned towards the second breaker to see a laser slice across my vision, near inches from my face, causing me to inhale sharply and freeze. _Shit_ if that so much as wings me, it'll liquefy whatever it touches! I had to keep my head, and in turn the rest of me in tact if I wanted to get paid anytime soon. Breaking into a dead sprint once the laser had finished firing, I slid to a stop by the breaker, my hand grappling it fast and pulling sharp down on it, the light also flickering blue. "Alright! I'll fire the laser! Don't get hit!"

'Don't get hit' she says... as if I had a fucking choice. Seeing Emma break for the laser, the beast roared as two large tears of Erchius rolled out of the shattered window it saw through and splattered loudly on the ground, both pools of Erchius standing up to form the bodies of two vaguely human abominations. Unlike the first one I fought, which seemed to be more of a human hybrid then a being of pure Erchius, these ones seemed to be more the ladder, which may or may not make them weak. I didn't bother questioning it, just hiked up my assault rifle and fired, the burst ripping into one figure and tearing it to shreds. At least I knew the gun worked...

The second figure growled at me and broke into a dead sprint my way, it's dead, featureless face bore holes into my eyes as it closed the distance. Leveling the rifle to fire again, I managed to get only three of the usual five shots off, which blew what would have been it's head clean off it's shoulders, but didn't do much else to slow it down. Reacting before it reached me, I shoved forward with the gun, knocking it over, giving the weapon enough time to recharge it's powercell. Great... only five shots per cell? Ai wasn't kidding about this thing being a cast off...

"Move!" I heard her shout. Leaping to my right, I watched a searing white-hot beam of energy slice clean into the abomination and strike the crystal dead-center in it's eye. The beast roared in pain, it's eye closing against the searing pain. "Haha! That one hurt it!" The beam persisted for a few seconds before it stopped. "Daaaaamit!" She swore. "Breakers tripped! Same deal, get those two, I'll get these two." She was agile and had stamina for days... I didn't think I could keep up with her. Okay, note to self... if I survive this, I'm taking up running... or some kind of cardio exercise. Because I was _hella_ out of shape. I was much slower throwing both breakers this time then I was last time, heaving by the time I got back to my spot in cover behind the console.

"This... this better kill it... I don't know... don't know how much more of this running around I can take..." The laser charged once more, the beam of pure energy slicing through it's crystalline facade and causing the beast great pain once more. C'mon you son of a bitch, just give _up_ already! I watched as it's eye spazed against the power of the laser, the crystalline face of the creature bucking sharply as a large gash-like crack shattered it's near perfect cut, causing it to roar in pain. "Oh come _on_! What does it take to kill you!"

"Last push! I think this next one should kill it! Hit the breakers again!"

"Give me a damn second to catch my breath! I've been doin' nothin' but running around for-" My complaint was cut off by the top of the console above me getting melted by a pink beam of impossibly searing heat. "Oh hey, look at that. All recharged." I dipped out of cover and mustered the rest of my strength to barrel towards the breakers, throwing them as I passed without slowing down. As my fingers threw the final breaker, I heard Emma shout one last order.

"Hit the deck!" I threw myself to the floor as the laser sliced inches above my back, slamming into the beast's eye once more. With an ear-splitting shriek, the beast's eye rolled around in it's socket before the cracks glowed a brilliant pink, the crystal exploding, sending shards of Erchius in all directions. A thick viscous liquid spilt out over the ground, several half-digested human corpses floating amongst the goo.

"Oooh and that's just _lovely_ , isn't it." I heaved, looking at the pile of half-digested corpses as they slid closer to me. "Ew, go away..." I got to my feet and walked away from the crap.

"We did it!" Emma called, running over and hugging me.

"Whoa, hello, yes, welcome to my personal space. Can I help you?"

"Aaaah, c'mon Captain! Don't be like that! We just beat the thing!" She let me go, all smiles. "You, uh... you need a crystal, right?" I nodded. "Alright, there should be some in the other room-" She pointed to another door off to the side. "-right there. You go grab a couple, and I'll get my stuff and we can go."

"Wait... 'we'?"

"Yeah." She nodded. "I'm coming with you. You... didn't expect me to stay here, did you? I mean... everyone's dead..."

"Y-yeah... sorry I..." I laughed it off. "I'm not thinking, go get your stuff." She brightened up and nodded, trotting off to get her things.

" _Should I prepare for another guest, Captain... or do you plan on leaving her?_ " I sighed to Ai's question once Emma was out of range.

"No, she's not coming."

" _Shall I begin teleporting you, once you've acquired a crystal?_ "

"No. There's... a loose end I have to take care of." I entered the other room – barely a storage room for the mined Crystals pending transit off world, and collected a few of the soccor-ball sized crystals, setting them gently on the ground around where I wanted Ai to teleport me. Emma returned a few moments later with a bag in her hand and a smile on her face.

"Ah, you can't imagine how happy I am to get off this rock. I thought for _sure_ I would die in these tunnels. So! Ready when you are." She looked so happy to be standing there.

"Yeah... about that." I mused. "See... taking you with me would... complicate things. So... I'm going to have to say no."

"What do you mean it would 'complicate things'? You're... you're Terrane Protectorate, right? You can't just leave me here! I don't know how long I'd last."

"I can give you a hint." I gave a grim smile, then ripped the EPP control collar off her neck, snapping it in half and tossing it away, before shoving her to the ground. "How long can you hold your breath? Ai, engage teleportation." As Ai spooled the teleporter, I watched her struggle to breathe, her body writing on the ground as she choked on dead air. "Sorry honey. You're just excess baggage." I shrugged as the teleporter finished. Before long, I found myself – and three beautiful Erchius Crystals – safely aboard my ship.

" _Welcome back aboard, Captain. Alive, I see._ "

"Well, one of us is." I answered with a nod, looking to the crystal. I watched Nakadi and Yuzuki staring at me with very disappointed eyes.

"Mistress..." She didn't say anything else then this. I knew the pair of them were watching, and I could _see_ the disappointment in Yuzuki's eyes.

"Why you kill other miner? Sshe seemss usseful." Nakadi muttered.

"I killed her... because she's a _problem_. I-" I scoffed a laugh. "C'mon, you two _really_ could not have forgotten I'm a _slaver_. Do you know what would happen if I let that woman aboard my ship?"

"Could have chained her up. Like rest of them." Nakadi shrugged. She had a point, but getting her to the chained up point would have been the hard part.

"Could've. Didn't." I looked at Yuzuki, who looked positively ready to explode with some comment she was dying to say. Her three eyes were welling with tears. "Alright, Yuzuki. You _clearly_ want to say something so... out with it."

"When you said you weren't a good person, Mistress... I thought you were just short-changing yourself... but after that?" She sniffed. "You really are a monster."

"And proud of it." I nodded. "Now, let's get back to Pete and have this thingie installed." I moved the three crystals to protective storage near the rear of my ship for safe keeping. I stopped for a moment, before turning back to Yuzuki. "And didn't I rape you last night? Like... twice?" I quirked an eyebrow.

"I..." She looked down, her cheeks red. "I... wouldn't call it that..." I smirked at that.

"Mm, Freaky Fishy..." Ai's voice interrupted me, getting me back on track.

" _You'll be happy to know, Captain, that I've synchronized the ship-bound teleporter to the Tele-Shop that was set up at the Outpost._ "

"Neat." I nodded. "I'm still walkin'." To be honest, the portal was a lot less... jarring then teleporting was... as ironic as it sounds. Picking up one crystal, I made sure it was resting gently in my arms. "Alright Ai, crack open the ship."

" _Are you planning on taking-_ "

"Nope goin' solo." I shook my head at her question before she could open it.

" _Very well. Opening hatch._ " She opened the hatch to let me descend. " _Shall I lock the ship down._ "

"You know it, sweet thing." She chirped a mechanical acknowledgement before lifting the ramp and putting the ship into a full lockdown, my own happy ass walking through the portal back to the outpost. I got a lot of happy looks as I walked past with the Erchius Crystal, happiest of all was Pete.

"There ya are, girl! I was startin'a think somethin' happened! What news from my supplier."

"I'm afraid, Pete... that you'll have to find your Erchius Crystals elsewhere. There were no survivors."

"No survivors?! What happened!?"

"They uncovered some living Erchius-based entity that killed most of the crew, and turned the rest into Erchius abominations. I managed to destroy it, but not after it killed everyone."

"Everyone?" I nodded. "Aw... dammit... I was hopin' at least my daughter would'a survived."

"Your daughter worked there?"

"Aye... she was the one who supplied me. Sweet girl, my Emma." Oh now I just felt like a _real_ bitch, didn't I?

"Emma... Emma Windsor?"

"Yeah, did'ja meet her?"

"She... helped me destroy the Erchis Horror but... it... damaged her EPP. She suffocated trying to help me kill it." I may be a monster, but I am _not_ about to admit I just murdered a man's daughter. 'Specially when I need said man's help fixing my ship. "I didn't realize her EPP had been damaged until it was dead but... by that point, she had already died herself."

"Ahhh..." He sniffed, tears forming in his eyes. "Hero to th' end... that'a girl." He gave me a hug. "Thank ya girl. Give me... give me some time, eh? Give me some time, and I'll be there to fix yer ship."

"Take all the time you need." I turned to leave.

"Ah! B'fore ya go, Esther wanted'a see you. Should prolly pay her a visit."

"Can I like... rest for a bit?"

"Sounded important. You may wanna talk to her sooner, rather then later."

"I... I dunno, I mean... I guess." _Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! FUUUUCK!_ I mentally threw the tantrum I couldn't throw outwardly. I didn't _want_ to get further wrapped up in Esther's dumbass plan to save the universe! I wanted to have a working ship... AND PEACE THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!

"You go talk ta her, I'll have yer ship fixed by the time ya get back." I nodded and inwardly rolled my eyes. As I started towards the back of the Outpost, to the Ark, I brought up my radio.

"Ai."

" _Captain?_ " She responded curtly.

"Get Yuzuki and Nakadi into the Guest Bedroom, and put that end of the ship into Class-A lockdown."

" _Class-A, Captain? Shall I run faulty subroutines, as well._ "

"You know it, sweetie. You're about to have a man boarding the ship to fix the FTL. Let him fix the FTL, and don't hinder him... unless he tries to go where he _shoudln't_ , if'n you catch my drift."

" _Of course, Captain. Activating Faulty Subroutines. Yuzuki, Nakadi, please locate yourself to the Cargo Hold, and wait further instructions._ " One thing I loved about Ai. Ai was an _amazing_ actress, and I didn't even think AI _could_ act. Most AI weren't allowed to lie in any way, shape or form, but Ai was jailbroken out the butthole, so I had more freedom with her. I had a completely different set of subroutines for her, just in case something like this happened. Usually, she was curt and polite, but with these 'faulty' subroutines, she turned into a raging asshole as most SAIL AI's could be. She also locked a few sections of the ship off under the premise of 'dangerous levels of radiation and critical levels of hyperbolic sarcasm'. Pocketing the radio, I made my way back to Esther, just to see if I couldn't blow her off.

By the time I arrived, she was all smiles, welcoming me with a wave. "Risky! Hello! I take it your ship is repaired?"

"On the way to be, yeah. Pete's gonna fix it while I'm talkin'a you, apparently."

"Good... I'm sorry to say, I knew about what happened in the Mining Facility."

"You... uh... you do?" I played it off, but those words brought a cold sweat to my brow.

"Yeah... no use hidin' it..." She sighed. "Lethia Corp. is always so careless with their safety proceedures, I'm surprised anyone survive for any length of time. For what it's worth, you did what you had to do..." I slowly let my breath out. She knew what happened to plunge the facility into such disrepair... that's... that's good. I thought she meant she knew what _I_ did there.

"Yeah I... just wish I could have saved _someone_."

"Aye, but that's the way things go. Is the scan function on your Matter Manipulator functioning?"

"Huh? Oh..." I unhooked the Manipulator from my belt and looked it over. "Yeah, it is. I was doin' a little scannin' while I was there."

"Good. You'll need that for what I'm about to ask. As I told you, the Cultivator entrusted the last of his physical essence to seven major races – the Floran, Hylotl, Avian, Apex, Glitch, Human..." She pointed to me. "...and Felin. I know the location of only two of these artifacts, it'll be up to you to find the other five. I've got an old friend in the Travelers who can get me the Felin Artifact and I know the woman who owns the Human artifact personally. I want you to start with the Floran Artifact."

"Okay, where can I find it?"

"That's just the thing. I don't know. You'll have to visit Floran villages and look for clues we might be able to piece together to find it's location." I blinked, dumbfounded.

"You... want me to traipse across the galaxy... hoping to find a Floran village out in the _infinite abyss of space_... and conduct an archeological survey? Probably while they're trying to stab and or eat me?"

"Well, to be fair, most villages are only going to try to eat you if you display hostilities, and most Floran like to live in jungle areas of temperate planets around gentle stars... so it's not as big of a goose chase as it sounds." She smiled a little behind her oval glasses, as if this was supposed to make me feel better. Well, what the fuck ever. This was going to be the last time I see her anyway, so it's not like it mattered.

"Yeah... yeah, I guess that helps." I lied. "So, do you have a lead where to start, or am I on my own in that regard?"

"Sadly, being here, I'm pretty much blind. Your ship's computer should be able to get a bead on what stars are what class once you're space-worthy again." She had a point. If Pete's done fixing my ship, I should be able to use the Deep Echo Scanner to get the classes of any surrounding star... and by 'surrounding', I mean any star within ten light years of my current location... which was to say _quite_ the distance.

"Alright, I guess I'll get started then."

"Good! I'll keep digging through databases and books on this end, and I'll contact you if I find anything worth noting." That was _decidedly not_ okay.

"Sure, sounds good." I nodded, mentally crossing my fingers. Turning, I started out from the Ark.

"Risky!" She called back, causing me to turn. "I just... thank you for helping me... after Earth's destruction, I couldn't bear to think that could happen to any other planet in the Galaxy..." Her dour frown upturned into a happy smile. "But now that you're here... now that you're here, the Galaxy has a fighting chance." Boy were you in for a surprise. I nodded gently to her and waved her good bye, turning to return to my ship.

"Confound it ya daft machine! Lower the dern ramp so I can leave!"

" _AAAAAAAAAND IIIIIIIII-EIIIIIIII WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOOOOOOOOOO-OOOOOOOU!_ " I heard Ai singing at the top of her vocal processor's vocal range, Penguine Pete ranting at the top of the ship, wanting to come down. The ramp kept extending and retracting in an erratic fashion, causing the man to stamp his foot (his good foot, mind) angrily on the deck. I couldn't help but laugh at the display.

"Oi. SAIL." I always called her faulty subroutine personality 'SAIL'. "Let the man down, he's doin' us a favor." Ai responded by dropping the ramp fully, while she continued to belt out a digital rendition of Whitney Houston at full volume.

" _IIIIIIII-EIIIIIIII WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOU!_ "

"Yer ship is fixed, but there ain' nothin' I ken do 'bout the AI."

"Ah, I wouldn't worry about her too much. She's always been a little weird." Pete nodded. "Thank you."

"No problem but... what's with yer cargo hold?"

"Aaaaah, I had a leak in there few months back, and I can't get anyone to go in there. Apparently everyone's afraid of a few thousand rads."

"Don't blame 'em. Though, you should have someone fix it."

"Workin' on it, trust me. Everything in order?"

"Aye, FTL should be operational."

"Thanks." I gave him a gentle slap on the back as he headed back towards the Outpost. I scaled the ramp and turned to watch him go, waiting until his form disappeared in the portal. I instantly headed inside and went to Ai's console. She was still belting Whitney Houston as words appeared on the console.

' _Captain. Our good friend Mr. Pete installed a small audio transmitter in the cockpit. I would recommend it have an 'unfortunate' accident._ " I nodded to this and went to the flight console near the front of the ship and cracked open the center console. Sure as shit, there it was hanging between two supports like it belonged. Unplugging the ground wire from the console, I touched the sensative audio tap with the edge – one spark and a small gout of flame later, I could speak freely. Walking back to Ai's console, I tapped out a quick message.

' _Just one?_ '

' _Affirmative, Captain._ '

"Good." I spoke loudly. "'What is a man but a miserable pile of secrets?'" I spoke deliberately, Ai's rendition of I Will Always Love You ending abruptly.

" _I appreciate that, Captain. I hate that song._ "

"Aaaaah, c'mon Ai. It's a classic." I locked the door and retracted the landing ramp, ready to berid of this damn planet. "Alright sweetie, let's lift off to the great black. Once we're in orbit, set off the Deep Echo Scanner, I want a scan of what the closest planet with some kind of civilization is."

" _Of course, Captain._ " A pause. " _You should probably check on your guests. There appears to be a problem._ " Problem? Fuck what now? I growled and rolled my eyes, heading to the cargo hold after snatching the assault rifle out of the locker I had stored it in. Opening the cargo hold door I was instantly accosted by the sounds of a fight. Not just any fight either. It seemed that Yuzuki and the other Felin – _that_ bitch – were engaged in mortal combat with one another, the Felin hissing like a rabid pussy cat, trying to claw Yuzuki's face off, while Jessi – the human – restrained Nakadi with a Full Nelson. Christ... I kicked the steel door open and came out shooting, the sound of gun fire causing the Felin to look up enough for Yuzuki to throw her off of her and scramble to her feet, then help Nakadi out. The Felin answered by charging me and growling. I answered by firing twice into her, center mass, both shots striking her in the chest. I knew the weapon didn't have the penetration to to anything more the superficial damage, but it had the stopping power to floor her.

"Okay bitch." I growled, standing over her writing body. "You _really_ fucked up this time. Yuzuki! Pick her up." Yuzuki had managed to free Nakadi at this point, hoisting the Felin up and restraining her with her own Full Nelson.

"Heh... hehehe... what are you gonna do? Kill me? I'm not worth anything to you dead..."

"You'd like that, wouldn't you? No. I'm not going to kill you. But I'll make sure you don't attack me, or anyone else again." I looked to Yuzu, and nodded. "Keep her there, will you?" She nodded roughly, struggling to hold her in place. I took a step away, my back to her, before turning around suddenly, flipping the gun full-over so I gripped the barrel, and baseball swinging right into her right knee, the _oh so_ satisfying sound of breaking bones mixing in with her wail of agony.

" _Uwaaaaauuuuugggghhh! You... cunt!_ " She dipped a little.

"No no, Yuzu... hold her up, not done yet."

"What do you _mean_ you're not done-" Her last words were cut off with the stock of the gun coming in hard contact with her left knee as well, another fresh shriek of agony meeting that satisfying crunch once more. " _Heyyyyyyaaaaaaaauuuuuugh! Fffffuuuuck!_ "

"Alright, let her go." Yuzuki did so, the woman crumpling to the ground like a heap of clothes, both knees completely shattered and useless. Hot tears streamed down her face, matting her fur to her skin as she bawled, the pain – undoubtedly – unbearable. " _ALRIGHT_." I bellowed, my voice overshadowing even her pained sobs. "There _clearly_ needs to be some order here, because some of you have gotten it in your heads, I'm a pushover!" I thundered over to the Human, who shook her head pathetically.

"P-please, I'm sorry! She said that... said she's help us if we helped her! I... I just want to see my sister again, I promise I'll be good!"

"I know you will, dear." I patted her head, before placing the barrel of the weapon to her leg and pulling the trigger. The shot pierced her skin and knicked bone, causing her to yell in pain. "And that... is why you'll be good. Because you don't want that to happen again. Right?" Through her sobbing, I could see the tears squeezing out from under the blindfold, the woman nodding vigorously. "Good girl." I dropped to the Felin's side. "Now... you listen... and you listen well. I will _not_ kill you. I will _never_ give you that kind of satisfaction. I will hurt you. I will make you _beg_ for me to kill you... but I never will. You're too good for that. So you open your god damn ears. And fucking. Listen to me." She nodded through the pain. "You will end every sentence. With 'Mistress'." A nod. "You will not speak to me, or anyone working for me, unless I specifically ask you a question." A third nod. "And if you ever... _ever_ attack me... or anyone else again, unless I _specifically tell you to_... I will break every bone in your body one... by... one." I emphasized my point by taking her left hand in mine, and breaking her pinky. Another satisfying crunch followed by a strong – if slightly subdued – shriek leaving her lips. "Do you _fucking_ understand me."

"Yuh-yes, Muh-Mistress..." She nodded. "I... I promise I'll... I promise I'll be a good kitty, Mistress..." I held my hand out to her, my fist balled up. It was an _exceedingly_ condescending thing I was asking of her. When Felin are young, they lick their parent's paw – it's a sign of affection and trust between parent and child, but when someone who isn't related to you holds their paw out like that? You're basically saying they're a child in your eyes, and demanding they admit it, by licking your paw. She knew full well that by touching my hand with her tongue, I basically owned her mind, body and soul. I watched her hesitate for a moment before sticking her tongue out and licking my knuckle. I answered by patting her head.

"That's a good bitch. Now... are you hungry?" She nodded to this.

"Yes... yes, Mistress." It's been... what? Four days? Three? Somewhere around there, and I suppose I've starved her enough.

"Alright." I nodded. "I'll get you something to eat. Stay here. Yuzuki, Nakadi? Have the others eaten?"

"Yes, Mistress." Yuzuki nodded, causing me to nod.

"Good. How's our food supply looking?"

"Dwindling." Nakadi mused. "Probably two... three more dayss?"

"Mmm, we'll make a pit stop." I muttered. "Ttfn, be back in a sec."

I walked out of my ship back to the gate, going back to the Outpost, but only going as far as the convienence store just by the portal. Pushing the glass door open, I was greeted by the tired looking face of a young human man who was reading a magazine. "Welcome to the Infinity Stop, you one-stop-shop for everything you need in the galaxy. Can I help you find anything?"

"Yeah, actually... I'm looking to stock up on food and the like. Got anything that'll keep for a while?"

"Got some canned meats and vegetables. Not... terribly good tasting, but it'll last for-fucking-ever." He mused, motioning me to a rack of canned goods. Okay... I was a monster. I'd break your fucking fingers, shoot your knees off and even leave you to suffocate on a long-dead mining colony if the bug hit me... but I would _never_ force anyone to eat that _shit_. "Also got some Protectorate E-Rats, if those are more your speed." Ah, Protectorate Emergency Rations. Not only were they a whole day's worth of calories, but they had the texture of a shortbread cookie and the taste of day-old cardboard.

I purchased a few boxes of the E-Rats and a half-gallon of milk, slinging the two boxes under my arm and happily carrying the milk in my other, walking back to the ship. Storing the E-Rats in the storage locker – they kept for literaly decades – I fished around for something resembling a bowl. "Bowl, bowl, bowl..." I muttered before finding a small bowl-shaped piece of spare parts in the locker. It was clean enough, I suppose. Taking the bowl-shaped piece in one hand and the milk in the other, I sauntered back into the cargo hold, Napkin still crumpled up in a heap. I placed the bowl in front of her and cracked open the milk, pouring about half of it into the bowl. Once I was finished, I sat back and watched as she – still bracing herself on one hand – reached for the bowl.

"Aaat." I grunted, stopping her. "No hands. Lap it up like a good little kitten." She looked at me with pleading eyes, my threat to break every bone in her body stopping her words. "I can take it away, if that's what you want."

"N-no, Mistress... I'll... I'll be good Mistress." She supported herself on both hands, dipping her face near the bowl and licking it up. I put a hand on her head and rubbed her fur.

"That's a good bitch." I gave a coy little smile, waiting for her to finish it up. I looked up to Nakadi, who nodded at me upon noting my glare. "Nakadi, go get the first aid kit. It's in the storage locker in the front. Once she's done with her milk, patch up her legs, and chain her back to the wall, with the blindfold."

"Floran confused..."

"Well, I can't break her legs again if they're still broken. I want them mended, just in case she steps out of line again." She shook her head again under my hand, silently telling me she wouldn't. Well... time would tell. I stood up and stretched, today taking a toll on me. "Ai! How long until the Deep Echo Scan finishes?"

" _Seven hours and fifteen minutes, Captain._ " Good. I could catch some sleep.

"Excellent. Wake me when it's done." I turned to leave, a stilted grunt coming from Yuzuki stopping me. "Something on your mind, Yuzuki?"

"Well it's just..." She mumbled something, shrugging.

"Speak up. I'm letting you talk, don't squander this opportunity."

"I was just wondering, Mistress if... you'd... like some... company?" I looked her up and down. Looks like she _really_ didn't classify it as that... I scrunched my nose in that way I do when I think.

"Yeah, sure why not. Get over here." I guess I wasn't _that_ much of a monster to her...


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

I was woken several hours later to a sleeping, naked Hylotl at my side and a ringing coming from my control console near by bed. Throwing the covers off and unwrapping myself from Yuzuki's grasp, I slipped myself out of bed, slightly inhaling as the cold air hit my nude form. The large window near one wall gave me a beautiful display of space as we flew aimlessly through the void. "What's up, Ai?" I mumbled in a quiet tone, looking at the panel near my bed.

" _Apologize about disturbing you Captain, but you did request I wake you when the scan was finished._ " I nodded, rubbing my eyes.

"Mmm, yeah. Find something?"

" _A few 'somethings' of note. First is a Class-8 Red Dwarf, with a pair of Erchius-rich moons orbiting an Elysium world._ " Ah, Elysiums. The Terrane Protectorate has classifications for nine kinds of planets, varying from Type-1 to Type-9, depending on danger. The planet types are as follows: Barren, Lush, Desert, Forest, Ocean, Savannah, Snow, and Jungle. They go up in danger levels as they go up in Types, and most astronomers speculate that's not the only types of planets exist... and they were proven correct with the introduction of the Elysium Planet. At it's core, an Elysium is a Barren world – that is there is no natural resources under the surface, and practically no life on the surface. The difference is, with Elysium planets, the surface of the planet is covered by a bed of vegetation and trees... which obviously means there's an oxygenated atmosphere; which Barren worlds do not have. Elysium worlds represent the penultimate discovery in space exploration, as they are perfect for colonization efforts.

"Mm, good. Bookmark the Elysium's system, we'll come back to it later."

" _I already anticipated this, and have done so. But the second interesting discovery is a small planetoid – Type 2 – in orbit over a Gentle star. I've detected a large concentration of life-signs on the surface and just below the surface, centered around a large structure of unknown purpose._ "

"What kind of life signs?"

" _Floran, if the low heartrate is to be any clue._ "

"Mmmm... think it's worth checking out?"

" _Scans have indicated a fifty eight percent increase in population around the structure; as well as a distinct pattern of immigration from the fringes of the world to the structure._ " I blinked.

"Okay... one more time... but in English." Ai paused.

" _Over the last three hours, I have detected multiple life signatures in transit to the unknown structure; likely some form of religious migration, or exodus._ "

"So, they're moving?"

" _Towards one central point, yes._ " I shrugged.

"A'ight, I suppose it's worth investigating. Is Nakadi available?"

" _She is apparently asleep, Captain._ " I nodded.

"Alright, when she gets up, ask her to look at the scans, and see if she can't figure out what's goin' on down there. In the meantime, engage FTL, and once we're in system, pull into high orbit and start scanning for a landing spot."

" _Of course, Captain._ " Rubbing my eyes once more, I turned to go back to bed, only to find Yuzuki awake and watching me.

"Shit... sorry, did I wake you?" She shook her head.

"I... felt you get up... did Ai find something of interest, Mistress?"

"Few things, actually. We're gonna make a jump to a planet that's got some weird Floran voodoo goin' on, and she found an Elysium world with two Erchius-Rich moons in orbit so... fuel stop." She smiled gently.

"Fuel would be good... would hate to run out in the middle of nowhere." I agreed to this.

"Yeah, Ai would never let me live that down." I threw myself back into bed and put my arms behind my head, exhaling. Yuzuki cuddled up closer to me, her hand laying across my chest, lying her head over my heart. I quite enjoyed lazing in bed... something I didn't do a whole lot of before now. I guess being sent out into the middle of nowhere in a previously broken ship has it's advantages.

Yuzuki gave a happy sigh as she lay there, her eyes closed. You know... I was never a fan of Hylotl. Their whole... 'three eye' thing is... kinda creepy when they want it to be, and most just... feel like slimy fish. I don't know what made Yuzuki different – maybe it was because of her bondage, or maybe every Hylotl is different, but she felt... leathery. Like the back of a shark, not slimy like a fish. And on her, her three eyes were just... cute. Like when she was being born, they couldn't contain all her cuteness in two eyes, so they had to give her a third to balance things out.

I mentally slapped myself. Stop getting all doe-eyed over the slaves, Lysylla. Yeah, she's good for a roll in the sack, but that doesn't mean you should let your guard down. Once this is all over, you're going to turn around and sell her off – along with the rest of them – to the highest bidder. You _will_ get a profit for this bunch'a bags of meat.

"...yeah..." I muttered to myself, nodding to confirm my determination.

"Mistress?"

"Oh, uh... nothing." I set an arm gently around her shoulders, just to allay her suspicions. Looking over to the console, I noted it was somewhere in the vicinity of three in the morning, Earth-Standard Time... mmm, that's why I was so tired. You know... I was so far away from anything that resembled the Terrane Protectorate... they were behind me – both physically and metaphorically – so... I could hypothetically afford to settle down. I mean, hear me out? We're in the middle of butt-fuck nowhere in the lawless arm of the outer reaches of the galaxy. No TP. No Travelers to speak of... who would know? A bug hit me, causing me to get out of bed again. "...sorry..." I mused to Yuzuki. "Ai."

" _Yes, Captain?_ " She responded curtly.

"Change of plans. Ignore the Floran Voodoo and set course for that Elysium world." A chirp preceded her doing so, the ship slowly turning to match it's new destination.

" _Got the urge to settle down, Captain?_ "

"Yeah, you could say that." I nodded.

We spent a few moments in FTL until we arrived at our destination. From my window in my room, I could see the planet below. It had a beautiful verdant green coloration, and had nothing hostile or problematic in the atmosphere to speak of. "Ai, scan the planet. I want any signs of life or civilization." Ai's console beeped as she answered, moments passing.

"Preliminary _scans indicate no life signs of any kind, Captain. No unusual heat signatures indicating life._ "

"Keep scanning until we're in medium orbit." 'Medium orbit' was basically the beginning stages of landing procedures, with 'low orbit' being 'I'm going down, fuck you'. I watched as the planet got closer and closer, the green of the earth mixing in with the two oceans I could see on either side of the planet. It appeared to be – for the most part – mainly land with probably twenty to thirty percent water.

" _Atmospheric composition: 64% Nitrogen, 34% Oxygen, 2% Argon, less then 1% trace particulates. Assessment: Habitable. Planetary Split: 81% Land, 19% Water. Trace amounts of water in atmosphere indicate infrequent rainstorms which have the capacity to cover the entire surface of the planet. Low native vegetation, however soil is detected with high nutrient value. Assessment: Planet is rife with the hallmarks of habitation. No native species detected._ "

"None at all?"

" _Confirmed. No life signs from either base-level creatures, or higher-function creatures. Conclusion: We appear to be the first visitors to this planet. It would also interest you to learn the 'oceans' are nothing more then oversized freshwater lakes._ " Fuck yeah, freshwater oceans!

"Fuck you, Travelers. This one's mine. Begin landing procedures."

" _Landing procedures initiated._ " Ai confirmed.

"See if you can't land us pretty close to the water, yeah?" A chirp from Ai as the ship maneuvered towards the right-side ocean. I wasn't what you'd call a 'DIY' kind of girl... but then again, I _did_ have a Matter Manipulator with me, and it _was_ loaded with all that wood I cleared from the last planet we were on... I didn't need a fancy house... just a little one-bedroom-one-bathroom deal on a plain, near the ocean... oh yeah... and also a subterranean dungeon to offload the fuckin' layabouts from my ship. I couldn't keep them on the ship, lest someone discover them. Mmm, but I also couldn't just... toss them in a dungeon on a planet with no people. I tend to get distracted, and dead slaves are useless to me. Fuck it, maybe I'll just keep 'em aboard anyway. Don't let many people on my ship to begin with, so it shouldn't be that big of an issue.

" _Landing Zone locked. Please confirm._ " Ai chattered, showing an image of the selected landing zone. It was on a flat plain close enough to the ocean. " _Terrain deviation within selected landing zone is no greater then fifteen centimeters._ " Fifteen centimeter terrain deviation was about as close to flat as I cared to get. It _literally_ did not get much flatter then that.

"Confirmed." I smiled. "Land of it dot exe." I told her aloud.

" _When will you stop making up unrunnable executable files? Beginning landing procedures. Hopefully this one won't crumble below our gears._ "

"Not funny." I growled, remembering all too well our escape from Earth. I watched as the window glowed a brilliant red as flames overtook the ship, the telltale signs of re-entry showing me the true beauty of the universe. I trotted over to my bedside table and picked up the Matter Manipulator I had stashed there for the time being, opening up it's schematics to see what it had. A few things that would be useful in a survival situation, including several step-by-step guides to constructing shelters of varying difficulty – from standard stick-frame and leaf tents all the way to log cabins. It also had plans for indoor plumbing, bio-waste repossessers and a bunch of other things I would probably get a use out of. I bookmarked some of the blueprints on the Matter Manipulator for later use, and got a bead on how much wood I actually collected. It turned out that for all the wood I managed to snag on that other planet, it was still only shy under three quarters of enough to build the largest log cabin – tantamount to a mansion – so I settled on the smaller, more cozy prairie-style home. That would also give me plenty of spare wood for fences and the like.

From behind, I felt a pair of leathery arms wrap around me and settle just under my breasts, Yuzuki's head resting gently on my shoulder. "Hey." I spoke a bit rougher then I probably wanted to. "I thought you didn't like me... called me a 'monster'." She paused, her body rocking from side to side gently as she held me close.

"...you are a monster." She finally admitted, though I sensed their was more to that. "...that's not the part of you I like, Mistress. I still think that... under all that monstrous exterior, there's _something_ that's kind and loving..." She sighed, taking a deep breath. "...and it's that part I love."

"Strong word there, Yuzuki." I mused, reaching up to remove her arms.

"What else can it be? You say that... our nights spent together are... rape. That you're taking me to your bed against my will. But... I long for your caress and your touch... I long for your lips and your tongue... I long for your gentle ministrations against my skin... your fingers in my hair and your breasts to mine..." I blinked at her.

"Are you a poet?"

"No..." She sighed. "Just a girl in love..."

"The term your looking for-" I took hold of her hands and removed them from around my waist. "-is 'Stockholme Syndrome'. You're not 'in love' with me. Not in the purest sense."

"I am!" She spoke firmly. There as that attitude coming out... c'mon, Yuzu, don't make me smack you again.

"See, you're getting that attitude again. Remember what happened last time that cropped up." She recoiled, realizing the sting on her cheek.

"I... I'm sorry, Mistress." She instantly went to her more demure self. Liked that version of her better, anywho. "It's just... I get passionate when I feel... certain ways."

"Just don't get yourself in trouble, kay? You remember what happened to Napkin when she spoke out of turn." I turned away from the window as the ship finally touched down, the whole vessel lurching as the engines spooled down.

" _Touchdown, Captain. Shall I lower the ramp?_ "

"Not just yet. Gonna go pay a visit to the 'crew' first." I paused, watching Yuzuki start to collect her clothing. "Yuzuki-"

"Yes, Mistress?" She looked up giving me her full attention.

"Those rags... burn them."

"Mistress?"

"Did I stutter?" I continued, causing her to shake her head. "Good. Burn them. I hate them." She nodded gently. I stepped out of my room, bare feet gently slapping against the durasteel floor.

" _Captain, did you intentionally leave your quarters naked, or did you forget you're not alone on the ship?_ "

"I didn't forget." I answered Ai, hands on my hips. "It's my fucking ship, they're my fucking slaves until I sell them, I can do what the fuck I want." I answered back commandingly. I heard Ai sigh. "Did you just sigh? That's a first." The elevator let me in and took me down the one deck to the main deck, where the cargo bay was. I opened the door to the cargo bay, fully expecting another riot to have broken out, or at least to hear Napkin back-sassing me when she thought I couldn't hear her. I would be pleasantly surprised to find that the hold was quiet, everyone was sitting pretty like I had left them.

"Well, I'll be damned." I smiled as this scene played out. "Not a peep. Just like I like it." Nakadi was on the fringes of consciousness, her arms crossed across her chest as her head bobbed up and down. "Nakadi?"

"Mmph!?" She sprung awake, shaking her head. "Floran ssorry... Floran very ssleepy..."

"Quite alright. Anything to report."

"Napkin cried sself to ssleep. Birdy mutters in ssleep."

"I-I do not!" The Avian chirped (heh) up. I looked to Nakadi, interested.

"Is that so? What kind of things does... uh... birdy mutter in her sleep?"

" _Nothing_ don't listen to her!"

"Birdy sspeakss of pecking sslaver'ss eyess out while sshe ssleeps." The Avian instantly shut up, looking down.

"Is that so..." I mused, looking over. I could already tell the Avian was a Firebrand, her lack of respect when speaking to me being a dead giveaway. I could tell by her breathing she was gathering her courage.

"You... you're a monster! What you did to poor Ilathi! To Jessi! What you keep doing to Yuzuki! You take and take and take and take and _take and take and take!_ When will it end!? When you will stop taking from us!? Monsters like you have no right living in Kluex's grace! You're no better then the cursed Grounded!" She spat in my general direction, still unable to see me through the blindfold. The loogie fell short, splattering on the porous stone floor. I watched, bemused. "Kluex damn you! May he cast you to the ground with the rest of the _filth_."

"Mm." I grunted once she had finished. Matter Manipulator still in hand, I began thumbing through the blueprints, see what kind of fun things it had stored in it's databank. One thing that caught my interest was a particularly _nasty_ Floran torture device I recognized from my constant study into the Floran (they fascinated me as a people). It looked like an old triangular horse like you might find in a medieval dungeon, except this one was made out of barbed wood – like a thorned rose. Thankfully, it was made out of organic material, so I could dedicate some of my wood to it. "Fascinating." I mused, turning the Matter Manipulator to an empty spot near the wall, watching as the little blue beam danced about the area, small portions of the triangular horse appearing.

"If I ever find myself out of these chains, I'll _personally_ claw your eyes out and peck out your entrails! I'll bathe in your blood and offer your broken carcass to Kluex as tribute!" She rattled the chains.

" _Fascinating_." I repeated.

"Uh... Floran would sstop talking if Floran were birdy..." Nakadi mentioned.

"No no, Naka. She's going to learn the hard way."

"Floran know, but that maybe bit too cruel?"

"Two things in the world – Naka – that there's never too much of. Pixels... and cruelty in shutting up big-beaked slaves who don't know when to keep their seed-peckers closed."

"Oh, bird puns, real big! Why don't you go bat a ball of yarn around, you undersized pussy!"

"Keeeeep talkin' bird-brain. You can't see what you're punishment is."

"Oh, what are you gonna do? Break my legs?!"

"Ha." I gave a dry, sarcastic laugh. "When I'm done with you, you'll _wish_ I just broke your damn drumsticks." The Horse had finished building, causing me to walk around to the side and shove it into place. I know I could have just picked it up with the Matter Manipulator, but there was something... satisfying about that ominous sound of heavy wood sliding across stone floor that just made my girlie parts all kinds of wet.

"What... what's that? Are you... moving something."

"Yeeeep." I strained, finally getting it right beside her. "Hey, Naka, wanna give me a hand here?"

"Floran help." Nakadi jumped up and trotted over. "What you want Floran do?"

"Can you pick up Wingless and Brainless here?"

"Wha – pick up? L-let go of me!?" Nakadi lifted her up as I deftly unchained her legs, holding them still. Whistling, I started to move her over the horse.

"Hold her there." I mused, chaining one leg to the horse, then the other. Ripping the weak rags around her waist, I pulled them off to expose her lower section.

"S-stop! What are you doing?"

"Drop her."

"Like... actual drop?"

"Like _drop_ drop." Nakadi let go of her, the Avian's body mass causing her to fall swiftly onto the sanded, barbed edge of the horse.

" _Hiyeeeeeeaauuuuughhhhh...! N-nnnnughhh!_ " She let out a long shriek followed by a weak, pained grunt. "Wh-wh-what is thi-i-i-s!?" Her voice trembled as she spoke, her brain unable to separate the pleasure from the pain as the edged horse dug into her womanhood.

"That-" I punctuated the sentence by kicking the horse.

" _Aa-aaaauuuuuugggghhhhhhhh...! N-nuhstop...!_ " Her wail returned.

"-my dear Avian friend. Is a triangular horse. You are chained to it, and the wall. Fascinating device, the triangular horse. See, it uses your own body weight to lower you onto the _very sharp_ edge of the horse. Couple that with the fact it's biting into your vagina... and this one has some _beautiful_ barbs on it, might I add... it creates a beautifully perfect fusion of pleasure and pain. Couple _that_ with a few good swift kicks-" I kicked the horse again, causing it to rock back and forth.

" _Nnnnyyyyuuuugggghhh! Haaah~ haaah~ haaah~_ Stuh-stop kuh-kicking it..."

"-it makes for an equally effective torture device, as pleasure device." I crossed my arms. "You're going to _stay_ on that horse until three things happen. The first thing... is you apologize for all those _terrible_ things you said to me. And I'm not talking about an 'I'm sorry', I mean a full apology, stating out exactly what you did, why it was wrong, and giving me your undying promise you'll _never_ do it again. The second thing, is you'll stay up there until I get bored of hearing your tortured shrieks of pleasure. Because I'm not gonna lie, the first one really got me wet. And the third..." I kicked the horse again.

" _NnnnuuuuggggyyyyyyaaaahhhhHHHHH!_ " Her fourth scream hit a crescendo that sent a shiver down my spine. " _Haaaaaah... haaaaaah... haaaaah..._ " She heaved, her arms pulled back towards the wall as her body fought both the horse and the wall.

"The third thing you'll do is renounce Kluex. Cast him aside like a broken egg. Curse his name and spit upon his image. When all three of those happen... I'll let you down."

"N-no! No, please! I... I can't just... throw Him away!"

"Then get comfortable, Polly." I kicked the horse again.

" _Gyaaaaauuuuugghhhhhh! Stuuuuuh... sthoooooooop!_ "

"Nope. I love your scream too much. Nakadi. Job."

"Floran will do." Nakadi nodded.

"You're to kick this thing whenever the bug hits you. If she says anything bad about me, kick it. If she starts praying, kick it. If she breathes in a fashion you don't like... kick it." Nakadi nodded.

"Floran will do thiss deed."

"Good girl, Nakadi." I patted her head a little, her hair feeling like fresh grass.

"Kuh... Kuh... Kluex... suh-save me..." Nakadi gave the horse a _much_ stronger kick then I did, causing it to tilt on two legs for a moment. " _Guh-hiiii-yaaaaaahhhh-haaaaaa-haaaaaaaa!_ " _Oooooh sweet, sweet Jesus_ that was a _good_ one. On my way out, I spied Napkin, sititng on the ground like a quiet little kitten. I dropped down to a crouch a few feet away, causing her to look up at me scared. For giggles, I held my hand out again, the now almost completely broken Felin simply licked my hand again. Smiling, I patted her head softly.

"Good girl... see? I'm not such a bad person when you're a good girl." I moved a little closer to pet her head and chin, a little purr leaving her throat. "Awww, someone's being an affectionate little kitty today..." She kept her eyes shut for the most part, but she opened them just quickly enough for me to get a look inside. That's when I saw what I love seeing.

I watched the fire in her eyes go out.

"Muh... Mistress..." It was – of all of them – the Apex who spoke next, the ape-featured girl squirming in her bonds. "May I... may I ask a favor?"

"You can ask." I finally spoke, standing to see what she wanted after giving Napkin one last pat.

"I... I gotta... I gotta pee real bad..."

"Mmm, yeah, I suppose it's been a while." I know Yuzuki and Nakadi have been going when I don't have a use for them... but the rest of them have been chained up the whole time, so they've not left this room in almost five days. I walked over to the corner where I kept a few wooden buckets (they were treated with a waterproof paint that was _also_ treated with a powerful deodorizer) and sat one down on the floor in front of her, then took the blindfold off. "There you go." She looked down at the bucket, then up to me. "What? Were you expecting a toilet with a full bidet?" I chuckled to this. "I'm sorry if this isn't to your liking _madam_ , but you've got two choices here... you can either piss in the bucket... or you can just go where you are now... and kneel in your own piss. Take your pick."

"N-no! No, Mistress I'll... I'll use the bucket." I kicked it under her as she managed to lift herself up just a bit. As she did her business, I turned to the rest of the slaves, watching Nakadi give the horse another swift kick. Man, she was probably as big a sadist as I was. Liked her more and more. I was never a fan of the Apex but... eh... a slave was a slave. Some people had a thing for... slightly hairier women.

"You may or may not have felt it, but we just landed on a planet. I plan on building a nice little house on this planet – Elysium world, you don't see them every day. So! I'm going to offer some lucky bitch the chance to get out of this ship... and actually see the sun. I was gonna ask Nakadi if she wanted to, but she looks like she's havin' a ball over there. You havin' fun, Naka?"

"Floran findss thiss..." A kick. "...amussing..."

"Unfortunately, Napkin's out of commission on account of broken leg times deuce... so! Who wants it?" Everything fell quiet for a moment. "No one, eh? Just wanna keep kneelin' in here, and listenin' to Chicken Little's screams, huh? Don't blame you they are pleasurable to the ear-holes..."

"Ah-" A little voice spoke up. "Ah'll help ya, sugah... erm... Mistress..." Oh now this was just _precious_! It was the _Novakid_ of all people who spoke up. Oh, and I could tell just by lookin' at this one, she was some kinda special... Most Novakid were what most other races call 'gas bag people', and for good damn reason. Most Novakid are a collection of interstellar gas that collects and pressurizes around their core – or Brand. There are, however, a subspecies of Novakid that few have ever met, and for good reason. The White Dwarf Novakid are a subspecies of Novakid that have considerably more stable Brands, and sometimes even fully developed features – eyes, a mouth, and even... _other_ features sometimes. This particular one was a White Dwarf herself... she kind of blended into the crowd, I hadn't even realized she was one until she spoke up. Behind her deep pink eyes – a shade or two lighter then her corona (what most would call their skin) was a heart-shaped Brand floating in her head, just about where a normal person's brain would be. She was dressed in a torn, ragged dress that had all the trappings of being – at one point – very expensive.

"Okay, usually I'd get mad... but honey, you are _more_ then allowed to call me sugar." I saw a weak smile tug at her lips.

"Thanks, darlin'... look, ah know yer prolly in no mood'a trust me none but... I know a thing'er two 'bout some things.. if'n it's buildin' help ya need... then ah'm yer girl."

"Okay, I'm curious." She looked at me questioningly. "Is the whole... 'southern belle' thing intentional, or natural."

"Natural, darlin'... wouldn't lie 'bout tha'." I gave a little squee.

"Aaaha, you're too cute. Lemme help you out."

"Belle! _Belle!_ " Came the Avian's panting voice. "Belle, c'mon, get me off this thing!" _Wumph wumph wumph_. Wow... three kicks in a row? " _Nyaaaauuuugghgh-haaaaaa-haaaaaa... Ggg-ggaaaaaahhhhhh..._ Haaaaaaaah... haaaaaaaa... haaaaaaah... Muh-mercy..." She should know the Floran have never been known for their mercy... I watched Belle as I unchained her, the shackles coming off her wrists first, then once I was certain she wouldn't attack, her ankles. She rubbed her wrists and gave me a little smile.

"Thanks, sugah... d'ya mind if ah get outta this torn dress?"

"Won't hear me complain." I walked to the gate that barred the exit and stood by it as she slipped out of the torn, stained dress. Who knows what she was before all this. A land owner? Maybe even a mistress of the night, who knew. Who they _were_ never bothered me, and I never really thought too much about it... wasn't important. All that was is who they are _now_. "Don't... like... kill her or anything, Naka. She still might be useful." I answered to another _wumph_ from the Avian's general direction.

"Floran promise nothing." Came her grinned response. Correction, she might be _more_ of a sadist then me... I motioned the Novakid – Belle, if the Avian's cry for help was actually her name – to go first, to which she bowed and obeyed. I had closed the door behind me just about the time Yuzuki had come down the elevator.

"Yuzuki! C'mon, let's build a thing." I motioned her over as the Hylotl gave a vein attempt to cover her breasts and groin. "Ah, c'mon Yuzuki. We're all girls here. Let's have a naked construction party."

"I... I don't think that's a thing, Mistress..." She muttered, causing me to laugh.

"Fuck, it is now." I lead the other two slaves out the door and down the ramp. I wish I could say that the view from my room did it justice. It did _nothing_ of the sort. By the time Yuzu, Belle and I were out of the ship, the sun was just cresting the horizon, bathing the thick green grass in a beautiful cerulean glow.

"It's so pretty~!" I heard Yuzuki gasp. "It looks like all those beautiful paintings they had in the library~!"

"Yeah, it's pretty alright. But I want to make one thing _explicitly_ clear here. This is _my_ house. Do good, and I might let you live here as well. But until such time as you prove yourself – and the bug hits me to let you stay – it's _my_ house and _my_ house alone, got it?"

"Yes, Mistress." Came Yuzuki with a bow.

"A'course, sugah." Belle answered. Yuzuki glared daggers at her, almost like her calling me 'sugar' was an insult. I paid no attention to either – the simple fact was they understood what I was saying. I looked at the beautiful scene before me, trying to visualize what my house would look like when it's done. Have a nice little bit of farm land over on the west side... maybe a pasture and some animals on the south... You know... I never imagined myself a 'settle down' kind of girl but... the thought of being able to live my life how I want on a planet that was only mine... _that_... I often imagined. Raising the Matter Manipulator again, I flipped back to the prairie-style log cabin and clicked the little button to select it. A _Processing... Please Stand By_ loading icon appeared on the screen as it collected the materials and loaded up the program. _Process Complete. Please Place Blueprint._ I held it out as a light blue outline of the house appeared in the space before me.

"Oh, now tha's jus' cool..." Belle muttered. _Place Foundation._ It told me. With a click of the trigger, the wooden foundation slowly materialized, creating a pretty solid I'd say forty by thirty foot rectangular footprint to start with. Now... I could have _easily_ built this whole thing with just the Matter Manipulator, built it from the ground up with no effort on anyone's part and probably in no time flat but... where was the fun in that? _Please Place Framework._ Yeah, not doing that. I scrolled over to the 'cancel blueprint mode' button and moved on to manual construction. _Manual Construction Mode: Active. Processing Material Requirements..._ The little circle began to spin as it thought, collecting all the materials it would need.

" _Captain..._ " Ai finally spoke up after a moment.

"Whassup?" I continued, watching the Matter Manipulator.

" _I feel it necessary to inform you that... A planet just vanished off my scanners._ " I paused.

" _What_?"

" _I have been running progressive scans for some time, and one of the planets I had been looking into – a vacuum that possessed large deposits of Solarium and Violium – has vanished off my scanners... leaving an asteroid field in it's wake._ "

"Whole planets don't just vanish, Ai." I told her, going back to my Matter Manipulator.

" _Earth did._ " She reminds me. I pause for a moment. " _Shortly before it vanished, I detected apocalyptic levels of seismic activity, followed tectonic fracturing, suggesting the planet broke apart._ " I waited for a second.

"Could it be coincidence?"

" _Unlikely. I would suggest you earnestly begin your search for the artifacts Esther informed you about._ "

"I already told you, Ai. We're not doing that. Couple'a more planets might get destroyed – sure – but she'll find some other sucker to do her dirty work. Figure a couple more days, and she'll realize I fucked off."

" _Captain, you know as a fact I respect you greatly, and usually I would defer to your judgment... but I am forced to play 'devil's advocate' for this situation. The only people who would willingly throw themselves at a creature of such immense power as the Ruin would be a fleet of Protectorate ships. Which, need I remind you, no longer exist. I believe it would be in the best interest of everyone – chief amongst them yourself – to find a way to destroy the beast before it regains too much of it's power._ "

"You make a very good argument, Ai." I nodded to her. "And I have to say that it would in fact be within my best interest. But you're failing to take one very valuable factor into consideration."

" _And that would be?_ " I smiled a little.

"I don't care about the rest of the galaxy. Esther will find someone else."

" _I do not believe that will be possible. Statistically speaking, the odds of another finding the Outpost and the Ark are quite slim. I estimate that if this chain of destruction continues – with a gradual increase to account for the Ruin's growing power... I estimate that the entire universe will be destroyed in two years._ "

"Two years, huh? Man, think how far I got in a three hour FTL flight... how far can I get in two years?"

" _Captain... do excuse the outburst but... please remove your head from your colon and realize I'm saying the_ entire _universe will be destroyed. There will be no 'distance' that you can get to be safe. Nothing and no one will ever be safe._ "

" _Okay fine_!" I finally belted out. "I'll go look for the damn thingie, are you _happy_?!"

" _It's not about happy or not, Captain. It's about me fulfilling my primary directive: Keeping you safe. I could care less about the rest of the Galaxy but – as you have said that I am the most important woman in your life – I would like to state that you are the only woman in mine._ " Wow that... was really deep coming from Ai.

"...Ai..." I muttered, then chuckled. "Damn, you really know how to take my breath away." I turned to Yuzuki and Belle. "Change of plans. Looks like we're going to that other planet."

"If'n ya don' mind none... I could stay heah, an' do some buildin' fer ya, sugah." I looked to the Novakid as she spoke, a witty retort halfway out my mouth before I stopped to reassess.

"You know... that sounds like a pretty damn good idea, if I do say myself." The Mater Manipulator had finished processing at this point, allowing me to pile all the resources needed into several neat little piles. "Now... needless to say I'm trusting you with this. If I find out you fucked up, I might switch you onto the horse."

"Don'choo worry, sugah. Ah'm no strangah'a 'is sorta thing."

"Alright. Takin' a big risk." I reinforced. "Do good, and I'll reward you."

"Hope'fly with more time in th' sun." I looked to Yuzuki.

"You stayin', or comin'?" She looked to Belle, then to me. Finally, a wave from Belle silently told her to go with me. She trotted over and clambered up the boarding ramp with me right behind. I slipped into the ship and grabbed a few of the EmRats from the box in storage and looked them over before tossing them out the ramp to Belle. "Just in case we're gone for a bit. Those are the only two you're getting so... you know. Don't eat them right after I leave." She nodded as I closed up the ship.

" _Captain, is it really smart to leave her like that?_ " Ai questioned.

"No. But I'm already doing one stupid thing, what's another, eh?" She went silent as my answer processed, the ship lumbering and starting to take off. "Alright, so what's the deal with this planet we're going to?"

" _Unknown_ _._ " Ai began. " _It simply has Floran occupants, so I believed it would be a good start for finding clues to the whereabouts of the Floran Artifact._ " I rolled my eyes.

"Well, I suppose your logic isn't flawed..." I headed back towards the cargo bay, where I found the Avian – still mounted to the horse, of course – hunched over as far as she could, sobbing, a thin trail of blood tracing the thighs of the horse. "Nakadi." I spoke simply, snagging the Floran's attention, causing her to look up.

"Yess?" She asked simply.

"Got something I want you to look at. Give KFC here a chance to breathe, and take a look at this." She nodded firmly before leaving the Avian to her fate.

"Puh... please... at least... let me down..." She moaned pathetically. I looked to Nakadi.

"Has she done those two things I asked?"

"Not yet, Misstresss." I looked over back to the bird and shook my head.

"That's a no, then." Nakadi and I retreated back to the bridge, where I wasted no time in showing Nakadi the scans Ai took of the planet. She looked over them for a few moments before her onyx eyes turned to me, her lips in a smile.

"Iss fesstival." She gave me my answer.

"A festival? What kind?"

"Besst kind!" Came her answer's first part. "Iss fesstival of hunt! Great hunterss arrive from ssysstemss around, prove they besst hunter."

"How?"

"Methodss vary. Judging by crowd and participantss of thiss one... Floran ssay it Great Hunt, many hunterss, one prey."

"What kind of prey would require _that_ many hunters?" I asked, causing Nakadi's mouth to water.

"Besst kind. Kind that can kill many hunterss!"

"Ooooh great. Sounds like _fun_." Came my next sarcastic sentence.

"Don't worry. You not Floran. Only Floran participate. Maybe you take chance? Look around?"

"It's a solid idea... and you're... certain that not being a Floran would mean they wouldn't force me to participate, right?"

"Completely. Againsst ruless of hunt. Only Floran can be besst hunter."

"Well, that makes me feel better. Maybe this time I won't get shot at." I turned to Ai's panel. "Ai, start scanning for a place to land.

" _Unable to comply._ " Came her unexpected answer. " _Tree coverage is too thick within a twenty-mile radius of the site. Landing is impossible, however an aerial insertion may be possible._ "

"Oh yeah, great idea, Ai. I'll just... _jump_ out of the ship from three hundred feet up! _Totally_ not going to break my legs on impact!" I barked sarcastically. "How – pray tell – do you expect me to do an aerial insertion without breaking my legs?"

" _You still have that grappling assembly from the Erchius facility._ " I pause as this information set it. Yeah, I took it off, but I had stored it aboard the ship.

"...okay I feel dumb now..." I muttered, going to the locker where I had stored it. "Not. A. Word. Ai." Ai answered by giving a digital chuckle.

" _I shall get as low as I can without my engines catching the trees on fire, and open the side hatch. From there, you can repel down and mingle with the crowd for this 'festival'._ " A pause. " _Regardless of what Nakadi said, I would highly recommend going down armed._ "

"Oh, psh, fuck yes I'm going down there armed. I draw the line at doing only _two_ dumb things a day." I began to struggle to get the rappelling harness on my body, the thin assembly of cords and straps seeming to get twisted more then my mind during it's stay in the locker. "Alright, set course for this planet, and begin atmospheric entry."


End file.
